Black Stained
by Jody van Leeuwen
Summary: Aral Potter, Harry's sister, also known as the girl who protected, has to deal with the bad -and some good- things she has done in the war. Also trying to contain her magic, because she believes it is dangerous. But her magic is leaking, she has to find a way and place she and the people around her can be safe. The perfect solution is offered by Charlie Weasley in Romania.
1. Out of the Shadows

**Black stained**

 _Chapter 1: Out of the Shadows_

The black scratched wood hurt her knees, but she didn't notice.

Too tired to let her mind wander to the physical pain, the other was hurting her more, the mental pain. Mentally she was tired and pained by the battle she can hardly remember now.

It had been chaos, absolute chaos. Once the body-bind curse inflicted by her headmaster had finally worn off and she felt the tears stream from her cheeks into oblivion after Dumbledore down to the grounds, she screamed running off giving away her position. He had warned her, he had.

He now wasn't there anymore to help her. No, he was gone. She felt like crying again, but wouldn't cry in front of them. _no,_ she told herself, _keep your head high, don't show them any weakness, you're a Gryffindor!_ She opened her eyes and tried to take in the room she was in.

But it was too dark and her long hair fell annoyingly like curtains over her face. Her hands bound in something made of leather, disabling her hands to remove her hair from her face and –frightening enough- of using magic. She felt her magic, which always felt tingling and warm, being removed and only leaving the darkness and cold feeling, the feeling of dark magic. Biting the tips of her fingers, scratching her whenever she tried to move, in other words: it held her captive, in a cage of invisible pain and destruction. She had never been parted with her magic before and in that moment it was what pained her the most. She shivered, trying to focus on something else.

Trying to recall what had happened that evening, Aral didn't notice the pair of eyes observing her, from head to toe. She vaguely remembered Harry staring for a moment, but nothing more, she already had started to run after the monster responsible for her headmasters -her mentor and friend- death. She ran through spells and curses, now she thought about it she was lucky not to be hit by any of them. She saw someone lying on the ground, but didn't check who it was and if he or she was still alive. No, she had been filled with grieve, not leaving any room to worry for someone else. She found herself running through the front doors of Hogwarts, which were opened and led in the cold wind and the sound of someone laughing hysterically.

Aral knew the voice and hatred filled her heart, burning her insides. Following the voice outside she ended up running towards the forbidden forest. She lost track of the death eaters she followed and ran around, trying to find something to do, to be useful. She felt awfully useless, not fighting anyone, she had lost this fight. Didn't protect anyone, not Dumbledore, not Sirius, not any of the lives the death eaters have taken. _But Harry,_ a voice inside her said, _he's still here, fighting for a cause. You must help him, he's your brother!_ Her feet stopped running around as if nailed to the ground. Silently she watched over the grounds to Hogwarts, it seemed to wake up, more lights popping up from the windows every second. The tears started to freeze on her cheeks, but she wasn't crying anymore. Suddenly she felt stupid, for leaving her brother alone, for running after people she wouldn't be able to catch, leaving everyone to fight while she was staring outside of the castle. She felt guilt and anger flowing all over her in big waves and started sprinting back. After a few minutes she reduced her speed to almost walking –although still fast- realising she wasn't able to breath anymore.

When she arrived at the staircase where the fight was still going on, although less fervidly, she took out her wand and screamed spells and hexes at every death eater she could see. A bright red head was near Aral and she realised it was Ginny, skilfully fighting off one of the black cloaked turned and her eyes locked onto Aral's, she didn't notice that the death eater prepared for cursing her. Aral quickly shot the first spell popping in her mind at the death eater, only her anger had increased the power off the spell, sweeping him of his feet and throwing him at the wall behind him, knocking him out with a loud crack. Some death eaters and members of the order, including some students, turned their heads at the newest fighter joining the battle. More than one death eaters turned to her and fired spells at her. This turn of events made her create a protective shield in the form of a dome around her and Ginny, who had joined her side. It took a lot of her strength and she wouldn't be able to keep the shield up. With pleading eyes she looked at Ginny, words were not needed, Ginny understood and gripped her wand tighter and helped some people on their feet again. The order and students rallied, side by side against the death eaters. New energy flowing through their veins and body. Adrenaline rushing, making their hands tremble. For a moment everyone stood still, glaring angrily at their enemy. Furious, afraid, sad, brave, looking forward on the soon coming fight or pained. Aral can't see who is standing by her side, but didn't care at that moment. A feeling started growing inside her, a swelling feeling of combativeness and control. She wanted to fight, now more than ever. She slowly took a step and another, 'You,' another step, 'Will not,' She increased her speed, 'win this fight!' enclosing on the group of dark cloaked figures. Once those words left her lips, the spells took over and different colours of spells filled the darkened sky. The walls coloured with every devastating, stunning and terribly green curse and could remember only a teensy bit of this fight hardly remembering how she was in pain her eyes finally noticed the pair of eyes watching her from the shadows. A foul, painful, frightened feeling fell over her as if she were surrounded by hundreds of dementors and no happiness was left to feel or remember. Only those eyes, terrible slighted and shiny, dark red.

Aral gasped and immediately sat up right in her bed. The cold sweat sticking her shirt at her back. Breathing heavily she looked in the room, noticing she wasn't in Malfoy Manor anymore, nor was it before the battle of Hogwarts. No, it had been 2 months since. Aral was still shacking and rubbed her hands over her face, trying to shake those terrifying, ugly eyes. She always felt watched by them, around the corner or the other side of the street, always haunted by them. She shook it off, telling herself the foul monster has been dead 2 months already and there was no way he could still be here somehow.

She looked at her clock on the nightstand beside her, 5.30. way too early. She then remembered what day it was, or more frightening, what was going to happen on this day. All she wanted to do was fall back into bed and have a dreamless, long sleep. But she couldn't possibly imagine skipping this day. Trying to avoid the dark, heavy thoughts, she climbed out of bed and shoved away some of the moving boxes to clear her path to the bathroom. She looked back at the great amount of boxes she still had to unpack, with a sigh she figured that she has been stalling the whole process while she lived here for over 4 weeks already. Shaking her head she stepped into the bathroom, took a quick shower and walked back to her small bedroom to collect some clothing for the day. In her wardrobe she saw the dress she had bought for today. But she never really felt comfortable in dresses or skirts, so she decided to wear simple black skinny jeans with a black blouse with long sleeves. Back in the bathroom while brushing her teeth, and skipping breakfast, she noticed the crack in her mirror. She frowned, trying to remember how it came there. Not being able to think of a cause, she removed it from the wall. Thereby also noticing the ugly stain behind it, obviously the former owner tried to cover it up. She made a face when she realised it would take a whole day getting the stain out. Briefly a thought shimmered through her mind. 'Reparo' and 'Emundiato' echoed through her was scared of the thought. How quick it could have gone, how easy. Sometimes she really did miss magic. She took a deep breath banishing the thoughts of magic from her mind.

 _It's dangerous, you can't control it._ She chanted in her head. Another deep breath and she continued. Putting the mirror down, she remembered packing a mirror in one of the boxes. Not really in the mood looking for a mirror that will just show a face that it shows every other day, she rubbed her face again. Too tired and hole. She never really felt any emotion these days, only dark and negative: irritation, frustration or loneliness. It was still a little dark in her bedroom, only the light of the bathroom was on and the red irritating light of her clock was flashing. It said – to her irritation – 5.47. which mend it wasn't yet time to head for the Burrow already and she had plenty of time to look for the mirror.

After sighing a fair amount of times she found the mirror in the third box she opened. It had been a gift from Hermione on her 18th birthday which was the 16th of May and not the 31st of July as was believed first. It still felt strange, not sharing her birthday for the first time with her brother they had all believed to be her twin. Her relationship with Harry didn't change however , luckily. Although she did grow apart a bit from everyone, but no one held any accusations against her due to the previous events. There wasn't anything special about the mirror. She placed it on the wall, covering the ugly stain. She looked in the mirror, seeing the bags under her eyes, the black curls of her hair going everywhere untameable (she occasionally admired Hermione for being able to tame her hair) and lastly her green eyes, similar to Harry's. Yet again she was surprised on how similar Harry and she looked, while they weren't -as far as she knew- blood related.

Her skin was pale, as pale as paper. She sighed deeply at the contrast. Fred would have laughed at the contrast between her black hair, black clothing, green eyes and the bright-red Weasley's. She could remember him laughing, at a prank or simple joke. It always was so bright and catching. The memory was painful and also very pleasant. It felt like it gave her heart a bit of fresh air, it felt good. She decided not to push away this thought, in contrast with what she usually did, push them away. Her eyes brightened a bit, but she wouldn't accept it was a simple thought of the Weasley. It was finally time to head for the burrow and Aral took her shoes from under her bed, black high-heeled boots. With a last look in the mirror and a last frown at her own sight, she walked out of the brown wood door.

* * *

 _You can still go back,_ a small voice in her head spoke. _You can still go home and fall into your bed, skip this day!_ She could… no! No, absolutely not! If she didn't turn up at Fred's funeral she could probably start planning her own funeral, for she would be cursed and hexed by Molly Weasley. Every step she took, which broad her closer to the Burrow, became harder. The guilt finally caught up with her, she had been pushing it away. Not visiting weekly on Sunday's brunch, nor visiting at all for that matter. The last time she saw the inside of the Burrow was four weeks ago, while moving to her small apartment in muggle-London. But respect and love for the weasley's kept her going. The sun had finally risen up and shot a soft orange-pink colour through the sky and on the Burrow. It was a lovely sight and would have made the day perfect if it wasn't for the sad end this day would have to face. Before she knew it she was standing in front of the door and she held her breath. Slowly she lifted her hand to knock on the door, but before her knuckles touched the wood, the door flung open. Showing a small, plump, wearing bright coloured clothing and head held high, Molly Weasley.

Aral looked right into her eyes and she could see that the always strong and caring mother had probably cried all night, her eyes still watery and puffy. Aral was startled by the sudden appearance, not being able to move. Neither did mrs. Weasley move, and not sure what to do Aral just stared at the woman, the loving and caring woman. For a moment she thought that Molly was going to scream at her, accusing her of leaving everyone and not visiting her, accusing her of Fred's death, that she could have protected her son. Her son, the son Aral had loved too. Fred had for a brief year grown close to her and she... she started feeling the tears behind her eyes. That was the reason she left the Burrow. The Burrow exposed her, she couldn't hide behind a façade, it would simply crack and show her true self. But there were no accusation shouted, or painful memory's broad up. No, instead Molly pulled her into a tight hug. A hug she dearly needed, and the simple but very sweet words, 'I'm so glad you're here, dear.' Made Aral embrace the woman heartily.


	2. Into the Fire

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 2: Into the Fire_

After being fed 'a proper lunch' as Molly liked to call it, and numerous complaints about Aral being 'too skinny and bony', she escaped to the garden where the rest of the Weasley family were gathered.

It was a heart breaking sight, with George sitting lifeless in a chair staring at the ground and his family around him, trying to cheer him up. Everyone seemed to try and forget their own pain by focussing on George's.

Aral walked straight over to Harry, Ron and Hermione, greeting the trio with a hug. Ron didn't let go of her hug, however, and as much as Aral understood he needed it, she felt awkward. Luckily Harry jumped in to help his sister and practically peeled him off of Aral. Mumbling some words that sounded like: 'Sorry,' and 'Needed it.' while he now rested in Hermione's arms. As much as she liked the couple, Aral still didn't understand how those two were still together.

Harry now turned to her and gave a small smile, with the words: 'Hi, Aral,' He scratched his head. 'It's good you're here.'

He turned to face the family and watched them from afar. Aral followed his gaze. 'As much as they don't want to admit, we need to comfort them all. But Molly keeps being busy with things and everyone else is in denial or focussing on George.'

She agreed in silence with Harry, she sighed. 'Negative feelings -especially pain- are kept away by denial or focussing on other things. As the brain is kept busy with simple and different things than the negative subject, the heart will follow and conceale itself, conjuring a wall around itself, untill it breaks of course. There is no such thing as a 'heartless person'.

She didn't look at him, but could feel him looking surprised. A smirk formed on her lips.

'Since when are you a specialized in Philosophy?' He asked with his eyebrows raised, but with a tone of humor.

'Last night.' She shrugged, hoping this was enough for an answer to Harry, knowing her brother it probably was.

For a few more moments they kept staring at the family, untill Molly called out that there was tea and cake. The Weasley's, Potter's and Hermione followed her inside.

* * *

Aral wasn't listening to the conversation the people around her were having. Instead she stared out of the window next to her. Nibling from her cake and sipping from her tea. There seemed to be no sound or movement around her. Until her name was called out, by Harry. He put a hand on her arm, ripping her gaze away from the window to all the red heads looking at her. She now realized she must have missed an important piece of the conversation. She flushed slightly, finally bringing some colour to her paper white skin.

'I am so sorry, I wasn't listening...' She explained them all, moving uncomfortably in her chair.

Arthur leaned forwards to look her in the eye, his eyes painfully resembling to Fred's. 'Dear, would you want to perform the ceremony?'

The ceremony - a tradition in the Weasley family- was a performance executed by someone close from the departed -but no family-, during the funeral. This obviously included magic and magic was at that time Aral's greatest fear. She felt trapped between all those staring eyes, waiting for an answer. Her heart skipped a beat and her blood pressure raised. She couldn't, she simple couldn't. But to say that in all their hopefull and sad faces...

She suddenly stood up, almost tipping over her chair. 'I, I...' she couldn't breath. 'I need some... air.' And with those words she fled out of the kitchen, through the door, into the garden, jumped over the fence -surprisingly not falling with her heels- and ran towards the tree by the lake.

* * *

She was leaning her head on her knees, pulled up to her belly, and her hands were plucking the grass. She had calmed herself, was breathing normally but still didn't dare to face the Weasley's she had just abrubtly left behind with shocked faces to her reaction. Oh, where was her Gryffindor couridge when she needed it?

It had felt as if she was set on fire with the question. What a simple question of magic could do to her was astonishing. She felt the cool wind around her, heard the water from the lake lapping and smelled the dirt from the earth on her fingers. For a moment, just a small moment, she allowed herself to take it all in. To let the nature calm her, losen up on her constant control and anxiety. Letting go of all the negativity that are crushing her. She breathed slowly and felt a nice tingling in her fingers, it felt familiar and strange at the same time.

She would have lost herself in the feeling and would have drifted away with the water, wind and earth if she didn't feel the hand resting on her shoulder.

'Aral?' A voice spoke, but she didn't know who it was or who's face belonged to this kind voice. She pulled her head up and blinked a few times against the bright sunlight. The tall figure moved in front of the sun, she didn't know if he had known the sunlight had been disturbing her or not.

She could now see his face. The first thing that obviously caught her attantion was his red hair, but it wasn't red-red, more brown-red, not alike his family. Next she saw his rather beautiful dark grey eyes. _Charlie,_ She thought, she didn't notice she accidentally said it out loud.

A smile curved on his face, 'Yeah, I'm charlie.'

Acknowledging her innocent mistake she flushed slighty red again. 'Sorry.' She mumbled.

'No need to be sorry, Love.' He said while seating down next to her. The tree was big enough for them to set beside eachother and lean against the wooden bark.

Before she could restrain herself a wave of words rushed out of her mouth. 'I'm really sorry for running of like that. It must look so stupid...' She looked down at the riverbank, where her feet were now resting with her legs stretched out. She now was suddenly very aware of her limbs and had no idea what to do with them. So she started pulling some grass from the ground and playing with it, anxiously waiting for his response.

He didn't say anything, but instead started laughing, although not very loudly. She then looked up, surprised and also curious what he was laughing about. He saw her puzzled look and responded in kind.

'Why are you so sorry about everthing?' He shook his head. 'And I heard what happened -I just arrived- and from what I heard I can't judge if you looked stupid,' Aral wrinkled her nose at the memory. 'but I doubt you could outdo Uncle Ben his friend's reaction.'

He looked over the lake, chuckling, probably recalling the memory. 'He had hexed aunt Muriel, she couldn't sit for another week.' Aral could help but join in with his laugh, the story was a funny one, she didn't know the friend but could see aunt Muriel furiously standing the whole time. 'Of course she returned the favour.' Charlie finished his story.

She followed his gaze over the lake, sitting quietly they enjoyed it for a moment. Until she heard Harry and Hermione call her name. Her eyes widened, she wasn't ready to face them. She still needed to sort her thougths and figure out a reasonable excuse.

She looked at Charlie shaking her head quickly, he understood and nodded back. For a moment they both waited helding their breath, hiding behind the tree she wished with all her heart they wouldn't look behind the tree. Luckily for her -and him- the tree was wide enough to hide them, and after waiting a minute or two -which felt like twenty- they heard them leave, retreating back to the house. Aral exhaled again, relieved.

She started wondering about charlie, who was still sitting next to her. He was awfully calm for a dragon trainer sitting beside a woman he had just met. What was he thinking of her? Could she explain to him, why she was so afraid of the ceremony, or more generally, of using magic? She wondered.

'I can't do it.' She said looking at him.

He turned his head to look back. She thought he would be frowning or look disapointed, but he just looked like... he understood. He gave her an encouraging smile.

'May I know the reason?' He asked soft and politely.

She looked away again, making a list of pro's and con's, trying to sort her thoughts. It endured like this for a couple of minutes in silence. Charlie didn't press on and waited patiently. Finally she decided, she bent her head down.

'I'm sorry, just...' She took a deep breath. 'just not yet.'

Her stomach clenched togheter, still in a big complicated knot.

After a moment he took her hand, and she looked up, again expecting to see disappointment in his face, but he was kind.

'That's okay, you can take your time. If you think you're ready you can always talk to me.' He pinched her hand reassuringly. 'You just have to promise me one thing.'

Aral frowned at him. 'And that is...?'

He leaned forwards, only a few inches apart. 'You stop apologizing so much.' He said seriously, but she could sense the humor behind it.

She smiled. 'I promise.'


	3. Rabbit Holes

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 3: Rabbit Holes_

The funeral was beautiful, the ceremony had been performed by Lee Jordan. It must have taken a great amount of skill and courage to do such a beautiful thing for a friend. The magic had conjured a headstone and all sorts of animals were attracted by the blissful music, paying their respects to the wizard. Something had stirred in Aral, a need to use her magic and say goodbye to the Weasley. She never got to say goodbye to him. Pain had infiltrated her heart like knives stabbing her over and over again, her eyes watered with tears of regret and guilt. She tried pushing them away with every ounce of energy she got, she put up a wall, like she always did. Everytime she got hurt, pained by grief and such feelings she tried to protect herself, her survival instinct took over. These reactions were the after effects of the war. The war that had taken so much from her, not just people she loved and cared about, but she had also lost herself. Leaving behind a young woman, a witch without her magic, living in pain. But she got to live, out of all people, people who wanted to live... they never wanted to die. She lived instead of all those people, who gave their life in a fight against the darkness.

All these thoughts wirled around in Aral's head while she stepped to the grave, placing a black rose on top of the earth. One tear. Just one, fell from her eyes and dropped on the grave, mingling with the earth. The tear fell with all her feelings and tiredness, with all the darkness that never left her.

She remembered the first thing Fred ever said to her: 'Come on, Aral, be happy!'

'I will,' She wishpered, too soft to be heard by anyone around her. 'I promise.'

She dried her eyes, took a deep breath and stepped away from the grave and with that all her sad emotions dropped to the ground, like her tear. She was determined to change, she just promised. She wasn't happy yet, but it will come, she knew.

Right now she was a bit emotionless, -of course still affected, like she said herself: 'There is no such thing as a 'hearthless person'- drained, but it was a good thing. All those negative feelings and thoughts had consumed her, not leaving any place for anything else. Now there was room for happiness, joy and laughter. Maybe not soon or as much as she should feel, but it will come.

But it will come sooner than Aral would expect.

* * *

If Aral had known they would walk back through the grass field, she would have never chosen the high heeled boots. Growling, she walked after the Weasley's, who were walking a bit too fast. They were now, more or less, fifty feet in front of her, not noticing she was having trouble keeping up.

They were -justly- occupied with each other. Harry was helding Ginny in his arms, Hermione and Ron did the same, although Hermione held Ron instead of vice versa. Percy was together with Arthur holding his mother, trying to keep her from breaking down and holding her a handkerchief as she cried. Lee Jordan walked with his friend, supporting him and keeping him from breaking apart on the spot. Bill and Fleur walked together arm in arm, silently crying and comforting each other. Aral's gaze upon the family and friends yet again burned her insides and poked holes through the wall around her heart, but she kept on going. Not giving in on the urge to cry.

While her eyes were foccused on the family she didn't notice the rabbit hole in the grass field. And with a yelp she was falling backwards down to the ground. With her eyes firmly shut, she awated the blow on her back which was inevitable. But it didn't come, instead she felt two arms, supporting her back and keeping her of the ground. Curious she opened her eyes, slightly widened still in bit of a shock. She saw Charlie, smirking down at her.

'Going down through the rabbit hole, Alice?' He asked, still smirking.

Aral made a face at him and tried thinking of a good thing say, when it dawned on her. _Did he just quote Alice in Wonderland?_

 _'_ Wait, how do you know Alice in Wonderland?' She exclaimed.

'That it was published in the muggle world doesn't mean it wasn't written by a wizard.' He explained rolling his eyes, while lifting her up and steadying her on the ground.

Aral frowned, knowing he was right. She didn't know how to respond to someone who just made her look a bit dumb. So she shrugged and continued walking, trying to ignoring the stupid smirk on his face. She peered over the grounds at the group, before her eyes settled on a horrifying sight. She loudly groaned in dislike.

'What's the matter?' Charlie asked.

Aral pointed at the field in front of them. 'Look at the ground, it is filled with traps and holes. There's no way I will survive crossing this field and if I do it will take me another ten years!' She growled.

Her mood was the exact opposite of Charlie's, for she was grumpy and he was cheerful by the sight of the struggling Aral.

She only made a few steps when she nearly fell again, catching her balance just in time. Charlie couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud and Aral turned around.

'Do not mock me!' She said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

She tried to keep her face straight and to stay in an angry pose, but his laugh was very cathcing, resembling Fred's. Quicly she turned around, so he could not see her smile at the memory. She groaned again upon seeing the field, then continued her attempt to cross the field. She made a few steps and again nearly fell, hereby Charlie's laugh only increased.

While it took Aral a minute to cross twenty feet, Charlie simply walked by on his flat boots in a mere three seconds. He planted himself right in front of her.

'Are you really going to walk and take the risk of braking your neck?' He asked her while sniggering.

'Well, I don't have a choice do I?' She said, while concentrating on where she placed her feet. He didn't respond and Aral thought he finally stopped mocking her, which was getting quite annoy happened next took her by surprise.

She was lifted in the air by two strong arms and carried across the field. She was so startled she couldn't respond at first, when she finally pulled herself together after a few seconds she exclaimed:

'Hey, you can't just pick me up and carry me across the field!'

'Oh,' He frowned. 'I thought I just did.' He looked at her and smirked widely.

'W-well,' She stuttered for a moment, trying to find a good comeback.

'It is a hot summer day, I am not the lightest person in the universe and you have to carry me across a bumpy field with holes and traps and if you pass out I won't be able to get us both of this bloody field.' She snapped after a moment, but it didn't stop him from walking.

He frowned for a moment, with a puzzled look on his face, then said: 'But you're a witch.' Clarifying that she could have used many spells to lift him up, or simply apparate.

She opened and then quickly closed her mouth again, not being able to give an answer without telling him what the real reason was. She looked down at her lap, avoiding his gaze. She was afraid his eyes would be able to look straight through her and come to know her secrets without using words.

They now were finally at the end of the field, the rest of the group already out of sight in the house, probably sipping on a cup of tea. They reached the border in silence and he set her down on stable ground. She was waiting for him to press on, and aks the question that was obviously on his mind. But he didn't say a word, she was wrong, again.

Before they reached the door he spoke the simple words: 'I quess, not yet?' He looked at her and there was no traice of the fun they had just had on his face, only worry.

She nodded in response.

Before he could open the door she reached out for his arm and looked him in the eye. 'Thank you.'

He smiled at her. 'No problem, as long as you keep your promise.' And entered the Burrow once again.

 **Author's note:**

 _Hey guys,_

 _This isn't such a big chapter, but a huge progress in their friendship (yes, friendship, I'm taking things slow if you don't mind). And I just wanted to let you know that my school is starting tomorrow, meaning: I won't be able to upload every day, as I did with the first 3 chapters, but I will try my hardest to keep updating often._

 _Please let me know what you think and you can suggest ideas if you want!_

 _Thanks for reading and until next time!_

 _-Jody_

 _Ps: I suggest reading while playing music in the background, it always improves my imagination._


	4. Mirrors and Memories

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 4: Mirrors and Memories_

They all sat by the fire that evening after dinner, which had been extensive considering Molly's state. Aral hadn't eaten this much in four weeks and she was certain she was going to explode if she only just thought about taking one more bite of the delicious chocolat cake. The only light in the house came from the fire, the flames dancing and whirling in the soft wind. Harry and Ron as usual played wizard's chess, while George and Ginny spectated. Hermione was curled up in the big armchair right next to the fire, reading a big book, which she probably considered to be 'light' reading. Arthur read some papers, secretly glancing at Molly as if he was checking up on her. Aral understood his concern for the woman, she looked tired and very, very sad. Aral looked around, actually everyone did. They all looked very tired and upset. She sat on the floor and looked at a shining piece of furniture, which reflected her face. She too seemed to be sad and tired, she frowned at herself, wasn't it what she usually looked like? She blinked a few times and looked away, directly into the flames.

Sometimes she thought she saw figures dancing or animals hopping around, _I must be really tired,_ she thought. She hadn't realized only she and George were still up, everyone else had gone to bed. The fire was now strugling to stay on, there was hardly any wood left.

George stared at her, he didn't know how long he had been sitting there just staring, but he reckoned it must have been a while now. Aral was just staring into the flames, not noticing him. He was thinking about his brother's odd behaviour around her, he always seemed to change a bit. _Fred had fancied her for a while now,_ He thought to himself, curling his lips up a bit at the memory of Fred who wanted to cancel a prank, because Aral happened to be the victim. The memories of his brother made him sad, but he could cope with it. Everyone thought he was on the verge of a break down. He had been, yes, but he learned to cope with it. Aral seemed to have too, he had noticed her watery eyes at the funeral, but she still looked strong and beautiful. He understood why his brother had fancied her, not that he did of course, she was nice, but never had a relationship with him as his brother had. She was beautiful, but also very intelligent and kind, she was witty and sarcasm was her second nature, which made her very nice company. She was just perfect, he didn't understand why she hadn't done the ceremony, as he said she was perfect. Curiosity rose up in him and he couldn't help but ask.

'Aral,' He started silenty.

She jolted at his voice, looking up quickly, seeing it was George her eyes -which had been widened- softened. _She thought I was Fred..._ George realized pained.

She looked around noticing everyone had gone to bed already and replied softly. 'Yes?'

'Why didn't you do the ceremony?' He asked trying not to sound desperate.

He didn't understand the look on her face. It was... what was it? He couldn't figure it out.

'I didn't feel like I was the right person.' She looked straight at him, trying to convince him with her eyes. 'Like I told Molly and Arthur.'

George looked away from her green eyes, not being able to look at her eyes for some unknown reason. 'I thought you would have been perfect.'

The words did more damage than George would ever know. She stared in the small, dying flames again, hoping the gentle heat could dry her eyes.

'Fred thought you were perfect.'

Those words made her fill with quilt and the following words were supposed to come out not as snappy. 'I am not.'

Upon hearing herself she looked down at her hands.

Fred stayed quiet and the air filled with a tansion, she had to break it, not liking the tansion between them.

'I'm sorry, it came out harsher than intended.' She explained weakly.

'I know.' Was his only response, while staring at her again.

He could only stare if she didn't look back. They sat like this for a few more moments, finally they broke the scene and both stood up. Muttering goodnight with a final hug. For a moment Aral thought it was Fred, but as much as she wanted to believe it was true she pushed away the imagination. And they headed upstairs.

* * *

Back at her appartment again, Aral missed the busy and cosy Burrow and its residents, but she knew she couldn't go back there. Too many memories and remindings of how good things were before the war. She sighed and looked at her phone, seeing she had one missed call from her boss. Her boss, a friendly and a huge do-gooder, had left a message asking if she wanted to start early shifts the following week, promising her a week off at christmas. The thoughts of spending christmas at the Burrow couldn't be stopped, she could already feel the cozy sweater Molly would knit for her and the smell of Molly's amazing cooking in her nose. Everyone will be there, the Weasley's, Harry, Hermione... A gnawing feeling made its way through Aral. She would tell her boss she would take the offer, but would still consider the christmas vacation, after all she needed the money.

* * *

 _Three months later_

The animal shop where she worked was small put overflowed with animals. There was hardly any time to take a breath between the treatments. But after a long day of work her paycheck always looked promising. When she arrived home with her hands filled with bags of food, she noticed the owls in her window, she opened it quickly and took the three letters. She gave the owls quickly a treat before they left and started opening the letters.

The first was from Ginny.

 _'Dear Aral,_

 _I've been trying to convince Harry to stop chasing the journalists. He thinks they are trying to get secrets out of him, while I believe they just want to photograph the golden couple on a date. He can sometimes be so stubborn, just like you.'_ Aral rolled her eyes at the statement.

 _'Now, I wanted to have some girl time again, with just us and Hermione. What about a sleep over or a nice day out shopping? I have something to tell you guys.'_

 _Yeah, your engagement._ Aral knew, Harry had consulted her in how to do it, he was so bloody nervous. Aral grunted at the idea of a sleep over, it never really was her thing, and it meant she had to go to the Burrow again. She didn't miss it as much as when she just came back, and she tried to keep it that way.

 _'We haven't heard much from you... And I know I've asked you this already like a hundred times, but..._

 _Will you please come and visit? It has been a while now and we miss you, we really do.'_ The christmas vacation... Aral couldn't help but think about it. Well, she really didn't have a choice, did she? She has to come sometime.

 _'Oh, and I included an article from the daily prophet, in case you haven't read it yet. It's about Harry and me, I think it is rather funny but Harry kind of wanted to incinerate the journalist._

 _Love, Ginny and Harry'_

Aral quickly scanned the article, finding it funny too and opened her next letter. It was from the ministry. She frowned while she opened it, what business did she have with the ministry? After reading the letter it apparently wasn't of such importance, just that they wanted to let her know someone was going to stop by for evaluation, considering she was a war hero and wasn't quite present in the wizarding world. She dropped the letter on her desk and opened the third. It was from Molly, asking her to visit the Burrow again. And asking if she wanted to come over for christmas, saying everyone was going to be there and she would cook and there will be presents... Aral shook her head, that woman was a very persuasive person if she wanted to be.

She responded to the letters, telling Ginny and Molly her plans to come over for christmas. She informed the ministry that the date they had set was available for her. Now she couldn't wait till christmas, and slowly a positive feeling bulged up inside her, she finally had something to look forward to again. She just had to wait for a while.

After dinner she sat on her couch eating chocolat icecream. She was pondering over why she didn't visit the Burrow, while she obviously missed it. What was her reason to stay at home, living in muggle-london and not visit the Weasley's where she could feel sort of... happy. She kept sitting there for a while, until it was time to take a shower and go to bed.

When she lay in bed and tried to sleep she was still thinking about it and turned around, laying her left arm next to her head. She then saw it, the thing that pained her and kept her away from the Burrow. How could she even not think about it? What had kept her mind of? There, on her arm was the dark mark, imprinted on her skin, embedded for life. She remembered the moment it had happened, when the dark lord had put the tip of his wand on her arm and the ink flew into her veins and onto her skin, branded for life. It had been so painful, she whimpered by the memory of it. She had given up, had stopped fighting. The reason why she never wore short sleeves or would go swimming. Not just because the death eaters always were despised, but also because no one knew. Not Harry, not Hermione, not the Weasley's. Maybe some death eaters, but they would never say a word about it. The mark also represented her regret for not being able to maintain to fight against the dark. She had given up, Harry once said she never gave up, that she was strong. But she had, she had done terribly. She felt the tears swell up in her eyes and drops spilled from her eyes onto her pillow. Her mind now filled with every terrible that had happened in the war. The deaths, pain, the capture and her torture, the endless torture...

 _'You're weak.'_ She remembered Voldemort say. She never thought she would, but she agreed, she was weak. She silently cried the rest of the night.

* * *

Christmas came around quickly, it was time already to go to the Burrow. Aral wondered if she would regret her decision. She prepared a bag and took it with her to work, finishing some work and said goobye to her boss.

'Merry christmas!' She cheered. 'Oh, and a happy new year!' She creemed after that.

Aral laughed while heading for the door, before she walked out she turned around and said: 'I'll be back by then already.'

Her boss waved away her comment with the words: 'Well, have it any way!'

With a last smile Aral left and called a cab on the street, gave him an adress nearest to the Burrow. This time she wore flat boots, she had learned her lesson since last time. When she was dropped of she set of on her fifteen minute hike, through woods and fields.

She arrived around one o'clock, enthusiasticly greeted by Molly and Arthur. Shortly after, they were joined by Harry and Ginny who just came from their apartment in Diagon Alley. The day after that, on tuesday, Hermione arrived. Aral and Hermione were now being dragged by Ginny, up the stairs to her room. She was glowing and closed the door.

'Oh, I have missed you so much!' She said, while hugging both of them.

'We missed you too Ginny.' Hermione said.

Aral laughed in agreement. 'Of course we have.'

Ginny pushed them both on the bed, and said down on her chair. 'Well then, tell me all about the adventures you have had, that I have been missing out on.'

Hermione started, telling all about her study at hogwarts and about how few have showed up to finish their school education.

Ginny and Aral laughed and at the same time exclaimed: 'Well, not everyone is mad to return to school!' Hermione laughed with them and then continued telling. She had taken as expected an amazing amount of classes, but of course succeeded in getting O's on all her subjects. She told all about the new teachers and how nice the new potion's professor was.

'How, in Merlin's beard, can a potion professor be nice?' Ginny argued.

'Well, Sluckhorn wasn't that bad.' Aral mentioned.

'He had an elite club he favoured.' Ginny objected.

'Yeah, and he was a terrible teacher, I never understood what he was saying.' Hermione stated, making them all laugh, remembering the dull teacher.

'Now you.' Ginny proclaimed at Aral.

'Me?' Aral sighed. 'Well, as you two know I still live in Muggle-London in my dull apartment, with my dull neighbours and pay my rent with my dull job. Well, actually my job isn't that dull. I get to have sick cats and dogs puking over my clothes and need to get rid of their fleas.' Aral joked.

'Then why don't you visit?' Ginny asked frowning.

Aral didn't know what to say. _Because I feel very guilty and sad when I come here, while I also feel a bit happier and have to cope with all the remindings in this house of the people we lost in the war. And because I'm a branded death eater, but never told you and hate myself for it._ Oh, well that should go well.

'Well, it's just...' She paused trying to think of a good sort of excuse, while looking at her hands playing with the threads of her shirt.

Hermione put a hand on her shoulder and softly asked: 'Fred?'

Aral thought about it for a moment, realizing that a part of the reason probably was Fred, not all of it of course. Ginny looked at her with sad eyes, still pained by the loss.

'Fred.' Aral sighed.


	5. Chapter 5 Crumbled Paper

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 5: Crumbled Paper_

The next day, Ginny finally succeeded into forcing Hermione and Aral to Diagon Alley for a 'girl's day' out. They all needed to buy presents for the next day and walked from store to store. Ginny enthusiastically ran around, seeking presents for her family and Harry. Hermione and Aral on the other hand dragged themselves behind her, less enthusiastic. They still had fun, but their feet were tired and they tried to stop Ginny, but she didn't halt or slowed down.

'Can we just take a break and drink something?' Hermione asked, trying to convince their friend.

But Ginny shook no and said: 'It's christmas tomorrow! We need gifts! What is christmas without a gift?' And she walked into the next store.

Hermione looked at Aral searching support in her desperate attempt. Aral shrugged. 'You can't stop her, and believe me if you could I would have helped you, but you can't. Sorry. And besides she is right, we haven't found any presents yet.' And she walked into the store, following her friend, who was already examining every possible present in the store.

Behind her she heard Hermione exclaim: 'I already have a book for Harry!'

Aral rolled her eyes and turned around. 'Oh yes, I totally forgot '100 most interesting species in the wizarding world and how to cope with them', he will absolutely love it and probably read it the next day.' She said with a thick layer of sarcasm. Aral already started looking for gifts and didn't notice Hermione's hurted eyes.

-Line-

She looked down at the book in her hands and her heart ached. Sometimes Aral could be so mean, she probably didn't mean it, but this time it did hurt her. She felt her eyes get watery, oh no! She didn't want to cry. Besides Aral didn't mean it, she can just be a little harsh sometimes. Hermione tried to calm herself with those thoughts, but none worked. The tears started to drip from her eyes onto the book, she made no sound. She just stood there in the opening of the store, frozen and hurt. Hurted by stupid, little words, from her friend. She had enough of it, she realized. Aral had done this to many times to her! She only tolerated it because of the fact she did it to everyone and her best friend ,Harry, was her brother. But now she wanted it to stop really. She had always considered her a friend, but now she really thought about it, there had been many times Aral was mean to her. They had been close friends as the only two females smart enough to read any books beside the school books they were forced to read. But ever since Ginny came along she started turning into not only smart, but also witty and Fred and George had liked that of course, stimulating the process. If you had asked anyone from school to describe the black haired girl, they would describe her as beatiful, smart and kind, witty and sarcastic to the highest level. She never understood how anyone could include 'Kind' in her description. She still there stood in the opening of the store, with trembling hands clutching her book, tears dripping on it. Ginny nor Aral seemed to have noticed the busy haired girl in pain, for they were to occupied in their mission to find gifts.

-Line-

Aral walked into the next aisle of the huge store. The store sign said: 'Greggy's gift shop, all kinds of gifts.' 'All kinds of gifts' did describe the store well. The sizes went from the size of your pinky to the size of a full-grown centaur. The colours were various and divercity enormous. Aral walked in an aisle of shelves filled with small and simple gifts. She always found the simplest gifts the prettiest. Her eyes fell on a small, silver statue of a flower. She picked it up and read the tag dangling from the leaf. _'The flower blossoms and closes, depending on the emotions in the air of the room you place it in.'_ Aral raised one eyebrow, looking at the flower, waited for it to show anything. It stayed closed and Aral figured it would only work after you bought it. The silver reminded her of fleur and decided to give it to her. She held it in her hand and continued to walk through the aisle, scanning every present and examining them closely, trying to figure out what to give the rest of the family. After not looking for too long she found gifts for almost everyone; A new set of self cooking and washing pans for Molly, a book about almost everything in the world for Bill, the flower for Fleur, for Percy she found a clock that would tell you to get some sleep or drink or eat (considering he was always totally consumed in his work), George she got two notebooks, which were connected if he wrote in one of them it would apear in the other and vice versa so he could talk to a friend, Ron she got a piece of paper which gave advice if needed and Harry a mug chanting the words ' _Best sister ever'._ She smirked at the last one, considering it to be the best one. Smiling she walked over to Ginny and watched her choose between two different gifts.

'But this one is practically better...' She wishpered to herself, not noticing Aral. 'But this one is funnier.' She frowned at the gifts.

'You could always take both, christmas won't die with an extra gift under the tree.' Aral joked leaning against the wall opposite.

Ginny turned around eyes widened, opening her mouth and closing it again. She considered the possibility and frowned again. Aral cocked her head slightly smirking a bit. She knew she was right and watched Ginny change.

'You're right!' She smiled at the solution of her problem.

'Who are those all for?' She gestured with her head at the pile in Aral's arms.

Aral presented the gifts and it's uses, she didn't however tell her who does were for. Aral looked around, noticing Hermione wasn't around.

'Were is Hermione?' She asked Ginny.

Ginny looked around too, holding the gifts in her hands. 'Don't know...' They searched through the store, even behind the counter, but Hermione was nowhere to be seen. They looked at each other, frowning. They quickly payed for their presents and walked outside. They stopped, looked at each other, nodded and together they sighed: 'Library.'

-Line-

After looking through the small library on the end of Diagon Alley for ten minutes they found her in a corner. Curled up in a chair by the window, book on her lap and her hair covering her face. Ginny and Aral both frowned again, curiosity boiling their insides, because of two reasons: Yes, Hermione was a huge geek and would probably move into the library if the opportunity presented itself, but she wouldn't just leave and not tell them. Second, she would have to be upset because she was reading her book, the book she always read when upset; Hogwarts a History.

Ginny slowly approached the young witch, carefully, Hermione could hex anyone when upset. 'Hermione?'

She was just about to turn a page, but froze in her movement. For a moment she stayed like this, then she slowly closed the book and placed it on the desk next to her. She lifted her head, showing the red and puffy eyes. Ginny and Aral, both shocked by the sight of their friend in distress, approached her quickly.

But before they could reach her she stood up and said, coldly and stern: 'Stop!'

They both stood still, not moving a muscle.

Aral was concerned for her friend, she never acted like this. She tried to think of a reason or cause why this happened, what could have happened to her in such a short time?

Aral had no idea, neither did Ginny.

Hermione held out her hand to Ginny. 'Could you, please, pull me up?'

Ginny immediately gripped her hand and pulled her up. Aral stepped forwards, wanting to help her.

'NO!' Hermione shouted at her. Shocked Aral froze.

'What's wrong?' Ginny asked quickly exchanging looks with Aral, who still stood completely frozen.

Hermione angrily stared at Aral, confusing her.

'You know,' Hermione started, calmed down a bit, but still harsh. 'You were my friend, but after all those stupid comments of you and your stupid shit... I'm done!' She waved her hand through the air in a horizontal move, making her point clear.

Aral felt herself melt from a frozen statue to a boiling vulcano, all her feelings left her only leaving behind anger. 'What shit? You mean those jokes I make?'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Is this about the comment about your book?' Her eyes stared down the other woman, who stared back, but less intense.

'The comments you've had about me all our time together!' Hermione spat.

'You really think I meant those?' Aral spat back. 'You're getting more stupid by the second.'

Hermione's jaw dropped, her eyes widened, nobody called her stupid. 'You just never realized how much you have hurted people with them.' She stated.

Aral's feelings started flooding back. If she thought about hurting people she... She started to tremble. She hurted people, not just with what she had done, but with what she had said too. There was truth in Hermione's words. And those words hurted her in return. She wanted to collaps to the ground and cry, she wanted to tell her friends about the pain she had been living with, she couldn't keep up her façade. But she didn't do anything instead she just stared, stared at the books infront of her behind Hermione. She felt hollowed and allone, even with her friends standing right next to her. Hermione was againts her and she could see Ginny sided with her, her eyes betraying her. She stood there she didn't know how long, all sense of feeling and touch gone. She didn't smell the books and old paper and dust anymore, she didn't feel the warm light of the candles around them and didn't hear any breathing. She was pulled into a black hole. After a moment she felt something familiar and nice. The feeling spread from her stomach and reached the tips of her fingers. Spread across her whole body, a good feeling. She didn't move, didn't express anything. She thought for a moment the feeling meant it was going to be okay, that she would say to Hermione she was sorry and make up for it all. But she realized it wasn't what she thought it was.

-Line-

Aral had started to stare at something behind her, clearly she had hid a nerve. Hermione considered it a good thing. Aral kept starring and she considered breaking the sudden silence, but waited instead when Ginny shook her head at her. After a moment she noticed Aral's expression changed, it went from angry and confused to blank. It scared her, how could Aral go to blank? She felt the air tremble, first softly then it increased. She looked at Ginny, she had the same expression on her face; scared. Aral still stared and still looked blankly. The trembly stopped suddenly and Hermione thought it was over, but made a big mistake to take a step. Books, unexpectedly started to tremble heavily, falling from the shelves. Hermione shrieked and Ginny jumped backwards, almost falling over the chair. Hermione tried to stop the books from falling and waved her wand, but the trembling air simply swiped it from her hands. Hermione shrieked again, jumping after her wand. Ginny slowly turned and knew where this sudden magic tornado came from; Aral. She looked at her still staring eyes, obviously not aware of what happened around her. Ginny tried to make her way over to her, but the books started to circle around and hit her everywhere on her body.

'Aral!' She screamed, trying to get the attantion of the witch. She covered her head with her hands as the books fell down from the air.

She heard a gasp and looked up, directly in Aral's eyes. Which were supposed to be green, but now where black.

Ginny was startled at the sight, she was shocked on how much she resembled...

Hermione screamed, covering her mouth with her hands. Memories of the evil Black witch flooding back. She grabbed her arm with her hand unconsciously, where her scar was still imprinted.

Aral blinked rapidly a few times. Ginny stared at her eyes as they slowly turned from the dark appalling black to the green, everyone was used to.

-Line-

They stared at her, their eyes filled with fear and disgust. She looked at the window opposite her, seeing two black eyes staring directly at her. She was shocked, but was accustomed to this appearance of her. She blinked trying to remove the colour, she had tried to keep away. Those eyes weren't hers, hers were green! Like her brothers...

She looked at Ginny who looked right back at her, fear flowing through her eyes. She was helding her breath, probably waiting for her to move. Hermione had regained her wand again, and was now pointing it rigth at her. She was afraid, she understood. She had made them afraid, she was scary... She was dangerous! She had told this to herself all the time and now she had the truth presented to herself once again, she had promised never to cross the line of using magic anymore after the war and she had crossed it! She failed againg... The dark lord's words entered her head again, telling her she was weak and stupid. She wanted to cry, but couldn't. She had to get away.

She ran out of the library, taking away the tansion that hung in the air with her. Hermione and Ginny once again were able to breath, shocked.


	6. Chapter 6: Back into Hiding

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 6: Back into Hiding_

The smell of herbs and Molly's cooking drenched the ground floor, with a light, spirited and friendly touch, as Molly hoped would lighten the dark mood around her house it has been in since christmas. She tried so hard, even had bought a -rather expensive- door knob with the -so said- ability to give happines to all who touched it. The lullaby bird she bought Harry and Ginny, whom now lived together, didn't help very much, it ended up on the balcony after Harry tried to throw it out in the middle of the night.

Molly could still remember his words: 'I'm sorry, I know you meant it well, but it just doesn't work.' He had avoided her gaze and ran his hand through his hair, revealing the bags underneath his glassy eyes. 'It doesn't bloody work.' His appearance had darkened dangerously since christmas.

Molly hissed as she felt her knife sink in her skin, she had missed the carrot's tale. She slowly broad up her finger, examining the wound. She never cut herself while cooking, she never had. Sadly she watched the blood, slowly forming a droplet, thick and dark red. She pulled out her wand and cleansed the wound and, while it wasn't deep, also made it heal.

The blood remembered her of Ginny when she and Hermione had returned from Diagon Alley. Aghast and wide-eyed, Hermione's eyes were also a bit reddish. The thought made Molly shiver, the state her daughters had been in, still were. But now the bruises had healed, after this long time. The hidden scars, the emotional ones, not so much.

* * *

Ginny started explaining, aided by Hermione sometimes, what had taken place just before. Hermione was also appologizing many times, saying she wasn't in a good mood and she didn't mean anything to happen. Harry had arrived that evening, owled with a letter telling him it was very urgent and his sister was involved. He came in storming through the door, almost breaking it. -The love he had for his sister, was unlike anything else Molly had ever seen. But it must have come with no parents and the horrible Dursley family.- On that evening the whole family -excluding Charlie- had arrived at the Burrow. They all listened to the story, all were distraught. After just a few minutes it was Harry -obviously- who spoke first.

'Well, we must find her of course!' He jumped up from the couch. He looked around the room filled with the red-heads. 'What are you all waiting for?'

'Harry,' Ginny started. 'I don't think we should.' Memories of the incident flashed in her mind, reminding her of how teribly afraid she had been, she didn't like to be afraid.

'What- Why...' Harry stuttered. 'But of course we have to find her! She is my sister! Your sister too!' He indicated at the whole family.

Everyone frowned at him, looking puzzled. Harry noticed his mistake in choice of words. 'Well...' He looked at his finger where his engagement ring was placed. 'Well, soon anyway.'

Molly gasped, forgetting the topic of the conversation at the moment. 'You mean...' She jumped up and quickly paced over to him, pulling him into a hug. She let go of him after less than a second, Harry was surprised he had never got such a quick hug of the all loving mother. 'Oh Ginny!' She cheered happily giving her a hug too. Ginny clearly was still in bit of a shock, not hugging back her mother or responding to her in any other way.

Arthur slowly stood up and sighed. 'Molly, dear...' He scratched his head. Molly turned around. 'This is not the right time.'

And upon seeing everyone else's expressions on their faces the topic worked its way into her head again. She took a deep, haistly breath.  
'I'm sorry, dears.' She turned to Harry, who nodded at her as a sign he accepted her appology.

She stood there in the middle of the room, shuffling awkwardly before returning to her formerly occupied spot.

'I think it can be said, we are all happy for you.' Bill said, breaking the intensive silence.

Everyone nodded in agreement, faces brightened explicitly upon receiving the happy news.

'Now this delighting news has past, I want to return to the former and sad news.' Everyone turned back into their frowned and stiffened poses.

'You say -you think- not looking for her is a good idea.' Harry said, turning to face Ginny. 'Why?'

Ginny saw the confusing is his eyes, knowing his instict were to be the hero he always was and find his sister.

She took a deep breath. 'It isn't just thinking, I know we can beter leave her alone, for the time being.'

Harry's expression only turned more confused, as did everyone else's, except for Hermione's she was nodding in agreement, silently. Harry opened his mouth to argument, but she quickly cut him off, standing up as she did.

'You don't know what happened. Well you do know, but you just weren't there. And I'm her friend Harry, I know.'

'I'm her brother!' Harry exclaimed frustrated. 'I think we should look for her.'

Ginny didn't know how to persuade him, she just knew, she was certain of it, she could feel it.

'No Harry,' Hermione joined them, also standing. 'We shouldn't.'

'No, _you_ shouldn't, obviously, _I_ should.'

Hermione and Ginny sighed at the same time, Harry could sometimes be so impossibly stubborn.

'Right?' Harry looked around, trying to find support, but he didn't.

Everyone had been strangely silent for the last couple of minutes.

'Well, I think it all matters about what exactly happened.' Bill said. He turned towards Hermione.

'What exactly, if you don't mind me asking, did you accuse her of?'

Everyone now turned to look at Hermione, all curious to what she had to say.

'That isn't important.' Ginny jumped in to protect Hermione.

'No, it is.' Hermione said weakly. 'I didn't accuse her of something specificly, but it had something to do with her harsh comments.'

George started to smirk, _she was always so witty when she did that,_ he thought to himself.

'She never meant those, you know that.' He commented, giving Hermione a small, reassuring smile.

'I know, it's just,' Hermione groaned slightly. 'I quess they have been stinging unconsciously.'

Hermione rapped her arms around herself. Ron finally stood up to join Hermione's side and held her. Hermione was already starting to wonder if he was ever going to do it, but he was here now.

'I think the question we all want to have answered is not what you did to her but; what did she do to you?' A voice spoke from the shadows. Everyone turned, shocked by the sudden appearance, to see who it was, except for Harry. He new the voice, he had heard it for the last couple of days and was really getting sick of it.

From the dark shadows someone stepped into the light. The soft light from the fire fell on a long, blond wizard.

'Malfoy.' Harry gritted his teeth.

Everyone was surprised, what was he -of all wizards- doing in the Weasley home? Arthur's voice returned after a moment of speechlessness.

'I do not remember having an appointement, Malfoy, and certainly not at my home!'

Malfoy only smirked and glanzed over at Hermione and Ginny. They glared back angrily.

'No, you don't. Harry, however does.' He turned to Harry. 'Or didn't you get my owl?'

'I did, Malfoy, and I told you I could meet you tomorrow. Not tonight and certainly not now!' Harry growled, stepping towards Malfoy to push him out of the room to the backdoor.

Malfoy, however, wasn't planning on leaving this entertaining and interesting spectacle and simply stepped sideways. Harry didn't fore see this move and almost fell against the wall.

'Malfoy, stop playing stupid, you need to leave!' Harry said angry.

'I have something urgent to discuss with you.' Malfoy insisted, he had stopped grinning.

'Than leave it urgently and we will discuss it tomorrow, I have other things to worry about now!'

'Oh, yes. A lost and emotionally unstaible sister, it must be quite a challenge to get her back.'

'How long have you been listening in my home?' Molly exclaimed.

Arthur put his arm around his wife, to stop her from storming at the unwelcome wizard.

'I need you to leave this home, mister Malfoy, otherwise you will be arrested for trespassing.' Arthur said, calmly warning Malfoy.

Malfoy glansed over at the family, who were now all standing as if protecting the home from the unwelcomed man. He understood it would be better to leave and nodded.

He made clear he was going to leave, but first leaned over to Harry.

'I just want you to know, it involves something dark, something no one understands. The dark mark.'

He grapped it unconsiously and before Harry could respond he turned, facing Hermione and Ginny and said:

'I don't think she won't show her face again. I have seen her worse. Just wait.'

And with that he left, leaving the Weasley's in absolute perplexity.

* * *

 _Four months later_

Harry was sitting in his office, staring at the paper work. He looked at the watch on his thin and bony wrist and saw he missed the dead line, they should have been finished hours ago. He rubbed his face with his left hand. With his right he reached for his wand. He felt hole and drained, having no energy to stand up and take three steps to simply put away the papers. He now instead magiced the papers and they flew back into the drawer. It wasn't even nearly time to head home already, but not being able to work he stood up and left. The department was almost deserted, everyone locked behind their doors, reading paper work, writing or owling people. He took slow steps almost dragging his feet. He sighed deeply and thought back at the night before christmas. The memorie had become a nightmare at night to him. Everyone else seemed to be so happy, of course with the war being over and life going easier. But he, he seemed to have become a black spot in the happy wizarding society. His sister, Aral, the person he could always find and support. She was now gone, simply gone. He had waited one week, patiently satisfying his soon to be wife and his soon to be family. The wedding... He could not possibly be thinking about that right now, with Aral gone. She was supposed to be there and help him choosing his dress robe and comment him on how anxious he was. His constent head ache worsened. Why? Why couldn't he find her? What did he miss? He was an Auror in training, he was supposed to know how to find people, but she just... She fanished in thin air. He put in as much effort as possible, the Weasley's too. After the first week of waiting -which had felt like a life time-, he immediatly stopped by at her apartment. He blamed himself for not looking for her earlier. There was a note on her door, with the words:

'I'm sorry. I'm not at home, took a small vacation. I need to think. Please, Harry, don't try to find me.'

The words had hurt him, he was used to Aral seeking help from him and now she didn't. Hermione called it independence, Harry called it avoiding. After a few minutes, walking through the ministry Harry found himself at a black, wooden door with a heavy silver door knob. The words 'Mr. Malfoy, Head of Magical Artifacts and Relics'. Harry frowned at first and wanted to keep on walking, but something pulled him back. Something he couldn't quite remember as if it was buried deep in his mind. He hesitated for a moment and then knocked on the door. For a moment he hoped and believed it wouldn't be answered, but unfortunately it was.

'Come in.'

Harry slowly pushed the door open, cursing himself for knocking on it. Malfoy didn't look up from his work and was bowing over papers, a lot of it. It pleased Harry to see him also being busy with what seemed to be a bit more paper work than his. He took a few steps forwards, slowly. Malfoy finally looked up, clearly annoyed Harry wasn't hurrying. When his eyes identified the person opposite him, his pose changed. He straightend his back and leaned on the back of his large, comfy chair.

'Potter.' His face staid emotionless, as always. 'I'm surprised to see you here.'

Harry regretting his choice in visiting Malfoy. He just stood there, not sure what to do. To his surprise Malfoy took out his wand and conjured a chair, gesturing to sit down with his free hand.

'Sit.'

Harry didn't like to be commanded, but sat down anyway, too tired to argue. He might as well have the conversation that was pulling on his mind.

Malfoy gazed at him, curious to why Potter visited his office on this day and at this hour. They were silent for a moment. Malfoy was on the verge to break the silence, but Harry was faster.

'You must be wondering why I came here?'

Malfoy thought about it for a moment and then shook his head.

'No, I was wondering why you haven't come any sooner.'

This took Harry completely by surprise. Another silence came and this one endured longer than the former. Harry took the time to look around the room. It was everything he had suspected; grant, classy, excellent furniture, silver detailing and some bits of green worked into the dark place. There was also a fireplace in the room, spreading light and warmth, although it was still chilly in the room. It was on Harry's left and he stared at the flames. He broke his gaze and followed the black wood to a table right next to the fire. His eyes fell on a small object placed on it, next to it was a sneakoscope, but he didn't pay much attention to the latter. The object was small, he couldn't examine it properly from his sitting position. He looked back into the fire, memories started peering back, slowly a sentence slipped into his mind.

' _I don't think she won't show her face again. I have seen her worse. Just wait.'_

 _I have seen her worse,_ he had seen her worse?

Harry looked back into the cold and emotionless grey eyes.

'At the night, the night before christmas you said something.'

Malfoy didn't stir, but his insides twisted a bit, not really liking the turn in the conversation.

'You said-' But Harry was cut off.

'I know what I said.'

'When?'

Malfoy had to think about it for a moment. He decided it was better to give him some information, but not wanting to give him too much, he didn't want to please Potter.

'Summer 1997.'

Harry did't know what to say. He never thought about Malfoy probably seeing Aral everyday that summer, she was after all held capture at Malfoy Manor. Another silence erupted, but Malfoy didn't want it to last and quickly broke it again.

'Did she ever spoke to you about... then?' He asked, realizing it wasn't the best question to ask him, while she was missing, but he didn't show it.

'No. Not a word.' Harry spoke the thruth, there had been a silent agreement to never speak of it.

Malfoy looked directly into his eyes. 'Do you want to know?'

'Yes, but not from you. That's something between Aral and me.'

Malfoy nodded.

'What do you want to know from me?'

Harry looked back into the fire. 'After that period, at the battle she...'

Harry could remember every moment, every person who had been there. He stared at his hands. His sister... he had never seen her like that.

'She changed.' Harry looked back up, to see Malfoy looking... sad? Harry didn't expect this.

'Yes, she did.'

'Did you see her often?'

'Every day.' Malfoy looked away quickly, Harry's eyes remembered him of the witch, both green and pleading. He looked at the object on the table instead, focusing his eyes on it.

Harry noticed this and curiosity flowed through his body.

'Was she okay?' Harry asked almost begging for a good answer. Aral had send him the message that she had been okay, but he figured it could easily haven been a lie.

'Do you want me to lie?' Malfoy asked, still trying to keep his face emotionless.

'Tell me the truth. Please.' It surprised both Malfoy and Harry that he said 'please'.

'No.' Malfoy's face began to break, showing a sad and tired person. 'Far from okay.'

'Then I failed her.' Harry never had felt this beaten, his heart broken. 'I failed.'

Malfoy couldn't help it, he had tried to keep the hate away from this conversation. He tried to get rid of the hate he considered childish. But he did think Harry had failed his sister, he won the war, yes, Aral did return to the good side, yes, but he hadn't taken care of her, he hadn't helped her after the war. She had been all alone.

'How many times have you seen her after the war?' He asked sharply.

Harry didn't want to answer the question, but it felt like he had to, as if it would give him a clue of what was going on.

'A couple of times, the war affected us all, she parted a bit but...'

'Don't make up excuses.' Malfoy couldn't restrain himself, not anymore.

Harry was startled by the sudden sharpness of the wizard he had considered not his enemy. He staid silent, giving Malfoy the chance to bite again.

'She was alone and hurt, and you didn't think of her after the war. You only had eyes for the good things you've done, auror training and that Weasel you asked to marry.'

Harry felt anger rising, Malfoy too.

'You think I haven't tried to reach her? She never came back to the Burrow and when we asked her she always made up some stupid excuse!'

'So you judge her?'

'No! No, of course not!' Harry tried to put together a sensible sentence. 'I lost her! The war took her away, she was never the same again!'

Malfoy looked at Harry, who suddenly looked very pained and lost, he didn't want to admit it but he felt simpathy.

'I never thought...' Malfoy looked at him. 'I never thought she would stay away this long.'

'You say it as if you know her.'

'I did.'

Harry frowned. Malfoy started explaining, knowing better than to hold information about Aral to himself.

'Ever since she got captured, Voldemort wanted to keep her close,' He started, clearing his throat, he had never spoken of this to anyone. 'But she was weak and heavy luggage, so they decided to keep her at Malfoy Manor.'

He looked back at the fire and memories started coming back. The witch, bounded and tortured. Her green pleading eyes flashed behind his eyes.

'She was held in the room next to mine.'

Harry saw something he never thought to ever see in Malfoy. He saw that he cared.

'You care about my sister?' He asked slowly, still angry.

'Yes, but not as you may think.' Malfoy said. 'More like a sister.'

Harry couldn't possibly think of Aral caring about Malfoy as a sister and vice versa. The image repelled Harry.

'Yeah, well she is _my_ sister.'

Malfoy kept in some snarky remarks, something with Harry doing a terrible job at being a good brother.

'Are you going to find her?' He asked instead.

'If I can.' Harry realized something, maybe his sister didn't need him. But another person... The thought made him go angry again and his insides turned at the idea.

'If I can, and if it is wanted, I will help.' Another surprising comment from Malfoy.

Harry only nodded.

This conversation did clear some things up for him after all.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hey,**

 **thank you for reading this!**

 **You must all be thinking; 'Where is Charlie?' and 'What is this sudden Draco Malfoy-OC thing?'**

 **Well, to answer your first: He's still in Romania, because he never really was present at family things. And his relationship with Aral isn't that far on, but (here it comes) he will go looking for her the chapter after the next (Chapter 8)(I'm planning to do the next one about a flashback).**

 **The second question: I'm not planning on bringing them together, not now or in a flashback. It will be explained in the following chapter. And it's like he said; A brother-sister relationship (I'm still not sure about it, so if you have any comments about it please review).**

 **If you have more question, just ask!**

 **Thank you for reading and until next time!**

 **-Jody**


	7. Chapter 7

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 7: Daughter of Darkness_

Her insides were burning, her limbs crushed and her face was covered in scratches. She was being carried by someone. She sniffed the air around her and smelled wood, blood and this awfully dirty smell she could not quite place, but she knew she was being carried by Greyback. She wanted to struggle and release herself of the monster, but found her muscles not being able to move, she was broken. They stopped for a moment in front of the door of her room. He entered and dropped her on the ground in mid-air. She fell on her back hard and curved into a ball on her side. Greyback left and made sure the door was locked, not that she would be able to open it. With her ear pressed against the wooden floor she could hear Greyback leave. She stared at a wall again, slowly a lullaby worked its way into her head and she hummed with the melodie. She stayed like this for a while, it could have been a minute or an hour, even several. She lost track of time, feeling and of what was happening around her.

'Aral?'

A familiar voice. She remembered something in her dizziness, it was him. She wanted to turn around and look, but her muscles wouldn't allow it. Ïnstead of doing it herself, she was rolled on her back. Her eyes could hardly focus on the -which she knew to be- silver eyes.

'Please.' Was the only thing she was able to say before she blacked out again.

* * *

Crackling fire and burned wood. Black stone and scratched knees. An empty room filled with the witch's screams, echoing through the manor.

The screaming didn't stop, they were long and stretched. The high pitched voice screamed until everyone in and around to room went to insanity. All but one... and he rather enjoyed it. But not as much as his supposed succes.

'You are a gift.' He slowly leaned forwards, his eyes following the movements of the witch. 'And I helpt you. I shaped you.'

The lullaby started playing again, if it was in her head or not, she did not know. She hummed along on the melody softly while staring at the ceiling again.

Voldemort flicked his wand in a quick movement and she felt herself being pulled up. Her eyes now stared at the wall opposite her.

'I broke you and then I build you up again.'

Death eater's started gliding into the room and out of the dark corners, still they kept distance between the girl and themselves.

'I showed you who you truly are... and now you are going to embrace it.'

He moved backwards, while the death eater's were forming a big circle around her. Slowly she started to understand what was about to happen to her. She moved her face, looking down to her hands. They were trembling heavily, she wouldn't be able to fight it off anymore. The sudden pull from behind her pained her back and she screamed once again. Some death eater's covered their ears with their hands. The pain increased and it felt like her back was set on fire. She fell down on her knees. She felt another familiar magic around her, powerful and dark, waiting for her to break.

'You have tasted the darkness and you have found it in yourself. I saw it the moment you arrived; you returned to your home, your _real_ home.'

The words cut her, she knew what he meant.

'Many saw you as an ordinary girl, gifted with magic. But you are not just gifted with it... You wield power. A great power flows through your veins, a power only a pure blood can possess!'

With every word his face got more and more excited, his dark red eyes glowing in the dark. Hope was leaving her body. She felt it too; the power in her veins. Every word he had said, a few moths ago she would have said he was crazy -what he really was-, but now it started to make sense to her the more she thought about it. Her mind had gone insane and Voldemort's believes had become her's.

'You are my greatest weapon of all! You are the daughter of the darkness!'

They all pointed their wands at her and her body broke, her mind broke and at last, fulfilling their mission, broke her magic.

The dark magic that had been looming in the dark as black smoke now entered her emptied body and filled every inch of her.

* * *

'You believe the stories, don't you?' A man asked another.

'Well...' The other hesitated. 'The dark lord seemes to believe-'

'No one is able to do such things, Ravenwood!' The first hissed.

Aral chuckled, hidden from sight around the corner.

'Did you here that?' Ravenwood asked anxious. 'I heard something... Maybe it was _her!_ '

'You paranoid bastard.'

Aral restrained herself to show her face and hex the ugly lizards. She had other matters to attend to. Slowly she glided over the floor soundlessly. She finally reached the door leading to the big dining room, now used as a meeting place. She raised her hand, which was surrounded by black fog, and simply twisted it, opening the door. Upon entering the room filled with wizards, she immediately felt their magic, but they weren't as strong. The lights and torches flickered for a moment, unstable by the appearance of her and the darkness that came with her. Voldemort took it as a sign she had entered, while he could not see her. She was hidden in the dark, consumed by the fog.

'Step into the light.' He demanded.

Strangely enough, she had this urge to obey him and did as she was told. Voldemort almost smiled at the realisation he had total control of the powerful witch. Some death eater's gasped at the sight of her, some staid quiet and only one dared to look into her eyes. But it was quick and the silver eyes were gone in the blink of an eye.

'There are rumors,' The dark lord spoke. 'It has been whispered in our world since your fourth year. Theories have been circling around, saying you could do almost every spell they thaught you at Hogwarts without the use of a wand.'

He now looked at his followers, looking into their eyes one by one. Only one avoided his gaze, but it did not matter. He knew what they thought, they didn't believe them, they only saw the tortured, little sister of Harry Potter. The name repelled him, he wanted to grant her a new name.

'But this is small talk.'

He turned his head to look at Aral again.

'Isn't it?' He asked mockingly, already knowing the answer.

A grin started forming on her lips, each corner curling up into a evil smile. No one ever had seen her do magic, not any big spells anyway.

'Show them.' His voice thick with excitement, taunting the unbelieving death eaters.

Aral chuckled and it echoed on the walls although the room was filled with furniture. She hovered her hands in front of her, with her palms facing the ceiling. Her chuckle increased into a laugh which made the o-so-feared death eater's wanting to sink through the floor and stopped their hearts from beating. The lights started flickering again, but now more heavily. The black fog started to spread from her to the whole room, surrounding everyone, caging them. She loved the fear, she loved their little hearts beating quickly filled with fear and weakness. The walls faded away and the furniture started trembling, heavier and heavier with each second. They all jumped up from their seats, except Voldemort who had already been standing. The furniture now fell away like dust in the wind, slowly demolishing to the ground. Someone tried to pick up a candlestick to lighten the dark room, but it fell like dust through his fingers. He squealed and jumped back.

Voldemort enjoyed the sight of his followers, all afraid of the witch. She most certainly was the daughter of the darkness. Was it only he who noticed her resemblence to the Black family? He asked himself, his eyes resting upon Bellatrix LeStrange. Her black, wild, curly hair and her features... Especially those black eyes! They were one and the same. A theorie started forming in his mind, but he ignored it. Aral was no family to the Black's, it must be the dark magic affecting her appearance.

She had transformed the meeting room into a space without walls and a endless floor. Some death eater's angrily growled they wanted to go back.

'What are you going to do to me if I don't?' Aral teased. 'Glare at me?'

The screech alarmed Aral of the attacker, allowing her to conjure a force field around her just by waving her hand through the air. Bellatrix LeStrange was thrown backwards and fell on the ground. They grabbed their wands tightly, trying to think of what to do. They glanced over at their lord, but he did not interrupt or break off the fight. He was enjoying the spectacle, sitting on a chair as large as a throne he had conjured for himself.

He just sat there, watching as his followers tried to take down his new asset. And he wasn't dissapointed. She was casting spells everywhere, muttering curses, chanting old languages even he did not understand. Who would have thought that he could turn the sister of Potter against him, transform her into darkness.

The girl who protected had now become the daughter of darkness.

* * *

She felt so much control and adrenaline flowing through her body. She swirled and twisted, hexed and cursed. They kept engaging and she was having fun. It was a silly game, so easy and her counter players were so easily defeated. After a while of fighting and playing with her new toys, the dark lord raised his hand, freezing them in their movements.

'Return us.'

His simple words were enough for Aral to understand. She closed her eyes and exhaled, focussing her mind on what the room formerly looked like. The walls and furniture returned as if the rewind button had been pressed. None of the death eaters moved a muscle.

'Remarkable.' Voldemort slowly circled around her. 'Isn't she?'

None of the death eaters answered and Voldemort hissed some words in parseltongue. She understood what he said, he called for his pet-snake. Then he turned to face the petrified group again.

'Wandless magic is very uncommon.' He walked past Ravenwood and Dolohov.

'And never in history of magic, has it been wielded like she can.'

None had believed the stories truly, but now after they had seen her capability of wandless magic, they had no choice but to believe them all. He glided over to her and whispered:

'I have a task for you.'

* * *

Flickering immages appear.

Muggle-London and a street, a family in a house.

She had been angry at something, so angry.

The rage filled her body and mind.

Green flashes.

Quilt.

* * *

She screamed and her eyes flung open.

The first thing she saw, back in the present: dark grey eyes.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hey guys!**

 **Thank you for reading this. It's a short one, I know, sorry. I'm currently very busy with school, but try to upload every week.**

 **So this chapter is basically a memorie/ nightmare of Aral. Maybe more will return later on in the story, not sure yet.**

 **I hope you liked this one and untill next time!**

 **-Jody**


	8. Chapter 8: Promise from the Scar

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 8: Promise from the Scar_

The apartment was at the outskirts of muggle-London. The numbering system wasn't that complicated, yet for a wizard it takes some time and cleverness to find the right adress.

'28th... 28th...' The wizard muttered to himself.

After looking for a couple minutes he found the entrance. In the hallway stood another wizard, Harry Potter.

'Harry,' He nodded. 'You didn't have to come, you know.'

'But I do, Charlie, I do.' He pressed the button on the lift. 'She's my sister and I have no ability to find her, my auror training included.'

He sounded so helpless. Charlie put a reassuring hand on the sad brother's shoulder.

'She just doesn't want to be found. But you will, I'm sure of it.'

Harry sighed still looking down to the floor. Then he looked up.

'What are your reasons to believe she might be here?'

'When I heard she had... disappeared, I started writing some letters.' The lift doors opened, revielling a plain hallway.

'My owl returned the first six letters, but the last time I wrote he never returned. I used a tracking spell on my owl.'

They stepped into the hallway and made their way over to the door with the number 28 on it. The letter was still plastered on it. Charlie scanned it quickly and took it of the door.

'It's a very smart move.'

Harry frowned at this comment.

'I believe she is hiding in plain sight.' Charlie explained.

He took out his wand and pointed it at the lock. Harry stopped him before he could act.

'Do you really believe I haven't tried? It doesn't open to magic.'

Charlie put away his wand again.

'I even tried bombarda and other spells, but none worked. And I'm an auror!' He mocked himself.

Charlie frowned. 'You could have said sooner.'

'Yeah, sorry, I didn't give it any thought.' Harry looked as if he was screaming at himself for being stupid.

Then something dawned on Charlie.

' _It doesn't open to magic.'_

'Yes, I said that.' Harry shuffled around. 'So what are we going to do now?'

He looked behind him to check for muggles and peeked around the corner.

'I suggest we-'

A loud bang came from the front of Harry and he twisted his neck so fast it was a miracle he didn't break it. Harry stared wide eyed at the sight of Charlie, who had forced the door open with his broad shoulder. He stood there for a moment, perplexed.

'Like you said, ' _It doesn't open to magic,_ so I figured,' Charlie stepped into the narrow hall. 'maybe it does to strenght.'

Harry slowly followed him into the apartment. Once they reached the kitchen they stopped quickly and gagged a little. A terrible smell drenched the place, moldy damp and stinking food. Harry never could stand a horrible smell well and he stayed at the door for a moment, hand in front of his mouth and nose.

'Well, maybe she wasn't still here.'Charlie commented upon seeing the horrible mess in the kitchen and the smell.

Who would ever live in a place like this? The kitchen was, besides being filled with rotting things everywhere, not decorated much. The only thing he could see between the mess was a knife block, five knives in a perfect row only missing one. He stepped out and went through a door, he entered a living room. It was empty, only plain and simple furniture. Something in the corner of his eye got his attention and he slowly turned. He saw a knocked over table, it was next to another door. Harry now came to living room too. Charlie turned to see Harry. He looked so tired and broken. His hair was like it always was; wildly peaking everywhere, it had grown rather long and covered his scar, but it couldn't cover his eyes. Which were hollow and with bags under them. Ginny had owled Charlie, something she did when she didn't know what to do in situations -just like this one-, that Harry wasn't doing good. Of course with his sister gone, but it was more than that, everything had gotten bad; his mood, his work, he never sleeps and was just... broken, broken by his sister's disappearance. Harry picked up a picture frame at the window, it was from him and Aral, waving happily. He clutched the thing so hard, he wanted to hold onto his sister, he hoped this would drive him and he would be able to find her.

'Harry.'

Harry looked up at Charlie.

'Yes?'

Charlie understood that loosing family was hard, he had lost Fred, but he also knew false hope wasn't going to help the lost brother.

'Go home.'

Harry didn't answer at first, still holding onto the picture.

'But-'

'You were right, she isn't here.'

Harry looked down at the picture again.

'She's been gone so long... The papers have theories about her being dead.'

Charlie could see Harry breaking down to pieces.

'She can not be dead! She can't!'

'And she isn't, but you have to get some rest.' Charlie pressed on.

'You don't understand, Charlie-'

'But I do! I do understand. I do know how it feels to loose family. And I will promise you Aral isn't dead. She's a fighter.'

Harry stared at the picture for a while. Silence filled the space between them.

'Notify me if you find anything okay?'

'I will.'

Charlie noticed Harry didn't let go of the picture, but took it with him. They said goodbye and Harry left. Charlie had to admit he was really disappointed his theorie wasn't correct, she wasn't there. But the tracking spell he used on his owl let him here, why? He walked to the door and noticed something else; there was a dent in the wooden surface of the table, as if something had fallen against it. He opened the door, but waited for a moment before entering the next room. It was so dark, he couldn't see anything. He took out his wand and muttered 'Lumos'. But the room staid dark, he still couldn't see anything. This was strange, he felt something else too; something dark and powerful. There was magic in this place, a lot of it. Working with dragons gave him a lot of experience with powerful and magical creatures, but he had never felt anything like this. He shuffled through the dark untill his feet bumped against something, a bed probably. He hurt rustling from behind him and he turned. First there was nothing, then suddenly wings flapped around his ears and feathers were everywhere and a bird was screeching. He yelped and covered his face. The screeching stopped and the feathers stopped hitting him. Charlie dared to peak from behind his elbow and saw a brown owl. His owl.

'Baltimore?'

The owl looked at him, recognizing his owner and screeched softly.

'What are you still doing here?'

The owl tilted his head and then spread his wings. He flew to the other side of the room and answered Charlie's question.

Curled up in a corner, next to her bed, laid Aral. He was so shocked he could not speak, nor make any sound. He sprinted towards her, leaping over a broken lamp. When he reached her he thought for a moment she was dead. Her face was turned away from sight and her hair hid her features. She was smelly and extremely dirty.

'Aral!' Was the first thing he could say.

He took her pulse and a deep sigh of relieve left his lips when he felt her heartbeat, weak, but it was there. He cursed himself for sending Harry away, while he had been so close apparently.

'Aral!' Charlie tried again.

'You're alive.' Charlie whispered, holding onto the happy thought.

'Aral. Please, can you hear me?' He tried, but no reaction came from her.

He brushed her hair away from her face and turned it towards him. Her eyes were opened. It shocked Charlie to see her like this. Her eyes were open, but she was not there, they were dark and staring away from him .

'Aral.' Charlie tried. He took her hand.

 _I should lay her down on the bed.'_ Charlie thought to himself.

Charlie stood up and wanted to pick her up, but he felt the ground, upon he was standing, feeling strange; hobbly and bumpy. Quickly he lid his wand. He took a few steps back when he saw what he was standing on; plants. Large tentacles of plants spreading across the room. Not just on the floor, but also on Aral's bed and walls. Charlie followed the black leaved plant strings and found their source; Aral.

'What the hell?' Charlie muttered out loud.

 _What's happening to her?_ He didn't know and just stood there.

He was breathing heavily, not knowing what to do. Eventually Charlie bent down on one knee and looked into her eyes. He hesitated, he had an idea... sort of. He turned her head so her eyes stared into his.

'Aral.'

He concentrated on her eyes and imagined her waking up, he pictured it and played it over and over in his head. He concentrated all of his power and magic on it and stared down at her. Her eyes were black orbs and had a depth, he felt like sinking into them, falling and falling. It felt like he was looking deeper and looked right into her soul. He heard whispers, but ignored them. Something else was attracting his focus. A soft voice... humming. It seemed to be a melody or something. His focus drifted away and he found himself just staring at her, sinking further and further down into those black orbs.

* * *

They both snapped out of their trance at the same time. She gasped for breath, as if she had held her breath the whole time. She saw his eyes, those eyes... someone familiar. She blinked and felt numb for a moment. Her hart quickened and she wanted to push away the person in front of her. She did what she always did, what she could do best. Her speciality at Malfoy Manor -the memories even made it worse- :

She screamed.

* * *

Images flashed behind his eyes. Horrifying images poured through his mind like water. He wanted to scream too. No words were able to discribe the horrible things he saw. But as quick as the images came, they left. He saw right into her eyes again, now she was really looking back, conscious.

They were both breathing heavily now and he blinked fast a few times.

'Aral.'

She was shaking and cold. In one smooth motion he picked her up and intended to lay her down on her bed, but seeing all the creepy plants covering it, he decided the couch would do. Even better; there was much more light. When he stepped out of the bedroom, a dark and heavy feeling left him and he embraced the lightness of the livingroom. Aral, however, not so much. She yelped and covered her eyes with her thin and bony hands. When he put her down, he felted his shirt being wet. He looked down and saw bloodstains covering it. Immediately he knew she was wounded and he crouched down beside her to inspect her. She was covered in blood, something he hadn't noticed in the dark room. He traced the blood to a wound on her arm. Her flesh was cut in a strange shape.

'Aral, I will be right back, okay?' He said, but she didn't respond, she just stared at the ceiling.

Charlie was scared, the woman he had met some time ago wasn't anything like this. He gagged a little again when he entered the kitchen and started looking through the drawers for supplies. He didn't find much but enough to help him clean and wrap the wound. Although he lived on the dragon reserve and had encountered many wounds, he never really was a star at healing spells. She was in the same position he had left her in and he quickly began cleaning the wound with a simple spell; the only thing he dared to do with his wand. Even if he was going to try and use some healing spells he wasn't sure about the effect it would have; for the magic around Aral was powerful and dark and could bent the spell, not giving the wanted effect. With a wet towel he removed the blood and saw something vaguely familiar, but he gave it no thought. He was concentrating on healing her.

She was breathing more steadily now, he finished wrapping her wound in a bandage and leant back against the table behind him. He sighed deeply, the adrenalin left his body and he felt tired. But he wasn't done yet, he had to now what had happened and of course bring her to the hospital. He leaned forwards and made sure she noticed him.

'Aral, what happened?'

'I'm so sorry.' She whimpered.

'About what?' Charlie asked, glad he had finally made her talk.

'So sorry.' A tear dropped from her eye onto a pillow.

Charlie didn't understand her.

'You don't have to be sorry.'

He tried to calm her, but it didn't help; tears started streaming down her face like waterfalls.

'Aral,' He crawled closer to her. 'Do you remember your promise? The promise you made me, under the tree at the Burrow?'

Slowly she nodded.

'Than don't feel sorry, okay?'

She shook her head and her face pulled into a pained and horrible scared look.

'You- you don't understand.' She sobbed. 'I'm a horrible- horrible per- person.'

'Of course not! Aral, you are amazing!' He had a feeling this had something to do that has been with her for a while. The war.

'Aral, listen to me. Whatever happened, you don't have to tell me, but everyone has something in his live he would rather change. And yes, some things are more terrible than others, but it's all about who's guilty and who is not.'

'I am gui-'

'No, you're not Aral! And do you want to know how I know?'

She waited in anguish.

'Because I know you are strong. And whatever you think you have done, can't be. Because you are capable of love. And someone who feels love cannot be able to do a horrible thing without someone else being responsible for it. So don't blame yourself.'

His speech made her calm down, but she still didn't forgive herself.

He clutched her hand and squeezed it.

'Promise?'

'Promise.' She whispered.


	9. Chapter 9: Reversed

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 9: Reversed_

Aral's arm was stinging and she regretted what she had tried to do to it while in her... -well, let's just say- unstable state. Charlie brought her a glass of water and some food from the kitchen -which took a while, considering almost everything was covered in little over a month weeks old mold.

'Thank you.' She said weakly.

Charlie was still very concerned and watched her cautiously from the chair opposite the couch.

'I need to bring you to st Mungo's for-'

'No.'

Charlie's face was pure astonishement.

'Have you seen what you look like?' Charlie paced over to her. 'Your skin is paler than paper, you're underfed, dehydrated and wounded, that cut needs to be treated!'

He pointed his finger at the wound wrapped in bandage.

'By the way, the magic around here may affect you. It's dangerous and dark. I have never felt anything like it.'

His face turned very serious and Aral dared to look him in the eye. She couldn't stop herself form blurting out the words.

'Well, _if_ I left this place it wouldn't help me get rid of it.' She snapped.

Confusion grew in his eyes and she saw it. She sighed and took a sip of water, avoiding him.

'You need to get to the hospital.' Charlie urged her.

She kept her mouth shut for a moment, avoiding his gaze. She was acting like a child, but she had good reasons to do so.

Charlie suddenly moved away and slapped himself on the forehead.

'I totally forgot! How stupid... I need to inform Harry.'

'NO!'

Charlie couldn't believe the woman; she didn't want to go to the hospital and wouldn't let her brother know where she was! Was she going insane? The papers did say so, maybe the media would for once predict something that was coming true.

'Please,' She pleaded, now looking in his eyes again. 'If I told you why, if I told you... will you listen to me and let me choose what to do?'

Charlie stood frozen and considered the offer. He would finally know what was going on, but he made her choose for herself, which could turn out pretty bad.

'I'm not insane, Charlie.'

Those words convinced him and he returned to his former seat, indicating with his hand to make her talk.

She played with her greasy hair for a moment and then started talking.

'What do you know about what happened to me in the war? What's the story?'

Charlie remembered some of it, there was a great distance between him and England before he joined the battle. He rested his elbows on his knees.

'You were captured, probably tortured and they made you do things...' He played with his hands. 'No one should have gone through such horror.'

He looked into her eyes, he thought the memories of the war would scare her or at least something else, but her eyes were firm and determination lingered behind them.

'Is that it? No specifics or anything?' She was surprised.

'No one dares to talk about it really, they have all seen you and you were forced,' He noticed her flinch. 'but then you broke free of them, you became a war hero.'

She flinched again. Charlie wanted to ask her why it seemed to affect her when he adressed to her like that but she left no time for him to ask.

'The first two are not wrong, the third...' She couldn't finish the sentence, she couldn't speak the words she knew to be true.

She just shook her head.

'After I was brought at Malfoy Manor they liked to play with me, torture me and such. But Voldemort,' Charlie was surprised she could say his name without flinching or a trembling voice. 'had other plans for me.'

She put her emptied plate and glass on the table and leaned back against the couch.

'In my fourth year I started showing some strange symptoms. I could do things, magical things... without the use of a wand.'

She paused for a moment, Charlie was still listening interested.

'Of course wandless magic is known and not that strange, but mine felt more like that. I hid this, but Dumbledore knew it and some others. Somehow the news had travelled a little further and reached the darkest corner of the earth. He -Voldemort- believed it was a sign of 'true power' and he wanted it for himself.'

She stopped talking, memories traveling down to her mind. She rubbed her neck, her hands were trambling and she tried to stop it. The pressure in the room increased and it felt like she wasn't able to breathe normally. Her heart started pounding as if it had grown astranged of her body, not able to control it.

'You don't have to tell all of it, yet, if you don't want to.' Charlie assured her, she was thankful for that.

'He couldn't have it. So he tortured me and drained me. And when I was competely drained and weak, they let something loose...'

Her eyes turned dark. The room got darker. Charlie felt that wathever she was feeling was affecting him too, and the room around them. He waited for her to continue the story, his heart pounding fast, he stayed silent.

'It consumed me. It crawled inside of me, took controle.'

She looked directly into his eyes, she wasn't scared of his judgement, not anymore. The urge of showing him, spread all over her. But she knew she wasn't ready to show him everything, but she could show him a little bit. She could trust him, she knew this because he was a good listener and was friendly, his presence seemed to calm her down.

Slowly she reached for the bandage. Charlie had seen the cut and wrapped it. But there never was any need for her to go to st. Mungo's. She already felt her arm and the process it had begun to fix the mark she had tried to get rid of. Slowly she unwrapped it. With each layer she peeled of Charlie's face became more frowned, a couple seconds more and Aral thought the wrinkles would never leave their place on his face. She removed the last layer, presenting the half dried blood. Charlie wanted to stop her, say she had to leave it on, because otherwise she could bleed out. But none of his muscles reacted and no words left his lips. He could only stare at her, glancing from the wound to her face and back. She revieled the cut and turned her arm to make it easier to inspect the wound. He couldn't find it, underneath all the blood. Still he could not move, nor talk. Only stare. She saw his look of concern and his eyes puzzling, not able to understand what was happening. She stared in his eyes for a moment and then took a piece of fresh cloth and started rubbing her arm. Charlie's eyes widened.

'You shouldn't-'

'Shh.'

She cut him off, accompanied with a glare that made him shut his mouth and stare at the wound again. The blood disappeared and his eyes widened even further. She stopped rubbing her arm and turned it a bit further to Charlie so he was able to see it clearly. She dropped the cloth on the table.

'How can that be?'

Charlie broke the silence, looking up into her eyes, with the most puzzled and dark grey eyes Aral had ever seen.

'How is it possible,' Charlie exclaimed. 'I saw the cut only moments ago!'

Aral frowned at him. He had responded to her mark first, but commented about the wound not being in its place anymore.

He glanced back at her arm again and than he noticed. He saw the black ink, imprinted on her skin and the skull with the snake staring back at him.

He stopped breathing.

She rolled her sleeves down. And looked up into his eyes, but he could only stare, only stare at her arm. She felt the air being ripped away from her lungs again. She shouldn't have told him, she shouldn't have! She jumped up from the couch, causing her head to go fuzzy and black and white spots to appear in front of her eyes, this however didn't stop her from moving away from the room. She fled again, remembering she wasn't strong.

Charlie's frozen body melted and he reacted quickly at her attempt. He took one step and grapped her wrist. She stared up at him, he was a head taller than her. Her eyes were widened and scared. Her breathing uncontrolled and her heartbeat fast. She made a weak attempt of freeing herself by pulling. But his grip was too strong and his eyes were piercing into hers, the dark silver burning away her defence. He slowly turned her arm to face up again. He looked down and reached for her sleeve. His fingers delicately shoved the sleeve up and revieled the dark mark. She didn't want to look at it, but her eyes got cought by the skull and the snake, it almost looked like it was actually moving... Her eyes got foggy and with a lot of effort she managed to tear her eyes away. She did not dare to look at Charlie, but felt is eyes burning into her. Time stood still, there was no smell from the kitchen and no sound from the outside street, no touch from the ground or air. She did however smell him... and she heard his breathing and felt his hand and fingers. His breath reached her skin and goosebumps appeared all over. His judgement, she had first thought not to matter to her, was burning her. She felt it, through his eyes and wanted to break free to flee once again, to try to not to excist. She felt the whole again, that always greeted her when she was sad, the dark that consumed her and took over when she didn't want to anymore. But instead of all that happening, Charlie spoke.

'It does not matter.'

She was shocked by his judgement on the matter, yet again surprised. He stroked the skin with his thumb, the touch made her heart skip a beat. It had been a long time since she had been near anyone, let allone someone touching her in this way.

'How can it not matter?' She anguished.

'Because it doesn't change the person I met a few months ago.'

'But that person isn't here, not anymore.' She looked into his eyes again, she surprised herself in the movement, courage flickering inside her a little.

'Than it will be my quest to find her.' Charlie said, with a hint of a smirk on his lips.

'I wish you all the luck in the world, you will need it.'

They both became aware of their close position and moved away from each other. Aral quickly pulled her sleeve down, Charlie saw the movement and nodded at her understandingly.

'What do you want to do now?' He asked. She clearly had no need of a hospital and what had happened to her was still a bit of a mystery to him. But what he had said to her he had meant; he will fix it, whatever there was to fix.

'I- I don't really know.'

Aral thought about what the possibilities were, there weren't much. She slowly walked over to the window in her livingroom, she looked down to the almost abandoned street. Her mind was to shaken to really think.

'I don't want to- I can't go back to the life I had.'

Charlie staid silent, listening. _He is such a good listener._ She thought to herself.

'Can you help me?'

'Of course I can. And I will.' Charlie responded.

Aral gave him a small smile.

'I promise.' He said, winking at her mockingly.


	10. Chapter 10: Romanian Solution

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 10:_

Her head was aching. She pressed her fingers to her temples and slowly tried to rub away the pain. Her head seemed to be exploding by the situation. She had finally told someone the truth. Well, part of it. Her mind was screaming not to, but her heart was bursting to let it out, to let it all out. And he was being so kind to her. She never imagined her story to be so calmly taken in by a person. She let her breath escape from her longs and took in the new and fresher air from the opened window. There were muggles on the street below her, some kind of party, all gathered around with drinks and snacks. She had gotten used to it, the muggle world. She had cut herself away from the wizarding society, like a virus, a bacteria. She stroked the skin of her arm with her fingers. She remembered his touch, the gentleness. He had told her it didn't matter. But didn't it matter? A black scar marked her and the terrible things that she had done. Her head ache increased. Maybe it was because he didn't know her so well, that he could except all this. _Promise._ She had promised him she wouldn't blame herself, but could she? She couldn't. She wasn't strong anymore. When he told her she was, for a hopeful second, she had believed him. She bit her tong, holding back some feelings, trying to penetrate her heart like daggers. And there was the other promise she had made him. Also a lie. How could she possibly not feel sorry. _You're a liar!_ She squeezed her eyes shut. She took a long moment breathing in and out deeply, calming herself. There was something in the back of her head gnawing, something she had forgotten. She sighed deciding it wasn't important. She could feel him behind her, wandering curiously through the room. She didn't have to look around to know he was reading the books and research spread out around the room. She had searched and searched, which sadly enough only let to disappointment and a hopeless life. The sound of rustling paper and some mumbling from Charlie filled the room. The mug of tea had cooled down and the herbs lay motionless on the bottom. She stared into nowhere, Charlie kept reading. Baltimore was nibling on some left over nuts and screeched every now and then. An hour and a half passed by with ease dragging them through, the tansion in the room decreasing to almost nothing. There was still the unstoppable curiosity coming from Charlie, she couldn't blame him.

The peaceful silence broke.

'This research you've done...' He said without looking up from the papers, books and scribbled notes.

'Am doing.' She corrected him without turning around.

'This research you _are doing..._ ' He couldn't form the correct sentence and settled for one simple word. 'Why?'

She still didn't turn around nor move, but something about her told him she was again about to tell him something very secret. She carefully picked her words and formed a story. Again she had to tell him a piece, but then again she didn't want to tell him everything. She stayed silent too long.

'I mean, these books... some of them aren't even legal.' She heard him rustle through the papers.

'These stories... these theories and tales.' He felt silent for a moment. 'These are dark, very dark.'

Something snapped inside of her at those words.

'I am dark!' She turned around and her eyes were filled with fury.

'Don't you understand?! You said it yourself, darkness is around me and these dark stories' She waved with her hand at the papers. 'are mirroring me.'

He was perplexed and couldn't say a word. Some puzzle pieces fell in its places, but he still didn't have a clear picture of what was going on.

'Aral, listen-'

'No, you listen! I'm not just going to open up and tell you everything. I will only tell you what you need to know and what you need to know-'

She was breathing heavily and had to catch her breath. She tried to tell him, tried to open up a little bit. Words and sentences swirled through her head and she couldn't think anymore, her brain went fuzzy. Her heart started beating uncontrollably again. She was staring at something behind him and tried focussing on what she was trying to tell him, but her emotions were a tornado. Then her headache stopped suddenly and her mind cleared from the thoughts. But she was still angry, sad and confused.

'Aral'

Her name being said by him somehow calmed her down a bit, but not enough.

'Aral,' He slowly took a step forward. 'Aral, your eyes...'

She looked into his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat. Those friendly dark grey eyes filled with worry. No fear, no pity. Her hands twitched and the room started to tremble. He looked around and his eyes widened a bit, but he still wasn't afraid.

'Aral.' He said again, he took another step.

'Can you just stop this?' He didn't demand her, he asked. 'Can you calm down, please?'

He was so friendly, it hurt her.

'I can't, I can't control it!'

Her breath got taken away and she started shaking.

'Please, Charlie, get out of here!'

The trembling worsened and the wind made the papers fly, the water in her cup rose up in the air as if gravity had no power anymore.

He didn't hesitate. Not for a second. He could have been killed, but he didn't care. He took three large steps forward and wrapped his arms around her.

This took away her breath and her heart stopped beating at all. She exhaled and the trembling stopped, the water returned to her cup and the wind laid down, calm. She was paralized for a moment and then wrapped her arms around his waist. He hugged her tightly. His hair tickled her face and her cheek leaned against his broad shoulder. She breathed in his sent and listened to his heart beat, which was steady. She was calm, he had calmed her down in a matter of seconds, while she had no control over it.

She didn't let go, neither did he.

She wanted this moment to endure in silence, but she knew she had to tell him now, she had lashed out at him which had been wrong.

'I'm losing control.' She said softly.

He tilted his head so he could look at her.

'The research.' He stated, now understanding why.

'Yes,' She breathed in deeply. 'but so far I haven't really found a solution.'

She sounded so hopeless and lost, it hurt him. He loosened his grip around her and she let go of him. It had felt nice, but now they needed to return to reality. And that didn't include hugging his soon to be sister in law and best friend of his brother. They stood opposite each other a little awkward for a moment. He then turned around and walked back to the papers, realizing it had been spread all over the room by the hard wind. He started thinking and an idea sprang up in his head. She noticed his frown and could almost hear him think.

'What if you've been looking wrong?'

She frowned.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, I read parts of your research and most of it had been dark. But what if the solution is found in light and pure magic?'

'You mean iluminating the dark part within me with the light?'

She had never admitted out loud that there was darkness inside her, it shocked her a bit, but she didn't show it. He noticed this too.

'Sometimes light magic can cure dark.' He said.

Something sprang up in her mind, an idea. She looked at him and thought about his words.

'Dragons.' She muttered.

'What?' He didn't hear her clearly.

She stalked over to a couple of heavy books, laying in a pile. She searched for one in particulair. She walked over to the next pile and rumbled through it, finally finding it.

'Dragons.' She repeated, loud and clear.

He frowned at first, then his face morphed into an understanding expression.

'They tend to consume magic around them, it's what gives them the power to live.'

They gazed at each other.

'Maybe this is my solution.'

'Romania.' He stated.

She couldn't help but give him a small smile.

'We may have an vacancy opened.' He grinned.

Her smile disappeared. What if it involved magic? _If? Of course there's magic involved, it's a dragon reserve!_ She thought to herself. It was as if he could read her mind.

'It doesn't involve a lot of magic. None, now I think about it.' He assured her.

'What is it?'

'We need a baby sitter.'

'What?' She frowned. 'I'm not-'

'A dragon baby sitter.' He said, grinning.

'Oh.'

Would it be save?

'Is it save?'

'A dragon reserve? What do you think?' He asked cheeky.

She rolled her eyes.

'Yes, I believe it is save. The stated theorie is highly likely to comply to you.'

She nodded.

'So,' She crossed her arms and looked at him. 'Romania.'

'It's a beautiful place, you know.' He chuckled.

She tried picturing herself, in Romania next to tiny little dragons. It did look beautiful, in her mind.

He cleared his throat, pulling her focus back to him. He was looking serious again.

'I have just one condition.'

She didn't really like the tone in his voice.

'Which is?'

'You write to Harry. And my family.'

She looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed.

'I know it must have been hard for you, all of this, but don't think for a second you had it harder than them. Harry...' He stopped for a moment. 'He was here you know, just a couple of hours ago, but I sent him home. Telling him he should go get some sleep, because he looked like a ghost and a wreck.'

Her eyes widened at the mention of him, he had been so close.

'Harry... He was here?' Her eyes filled with pain and sadness.

'Yeah,' He suddenly felt quilty for mentioning him and bringing back the pain.

'If you write him, he will be as he was. Your brother. And Ginny will have her fiance back.'

Her heart broke a little, but she kept calm and strong.

'I will. I will write them, all of them.' She looked into his eyes.

Before him there stood a Gryffindor, he felt her courage. Before him there stood a young woman who had just regained her strength again, who had climbed from the darkness and was now, with head helt high, standing in front of him. He smiled at the sight.

She hadn't felt this good for months now. But then she remembered his words, that his family had had it hard too, and Harry of course. She wanted to know, she needed to know.

'How was you're family when I was... gone?' She asked hesistantly.

He looked out of the window, squeezing his eyes a bit, from the setting sun.

'They weren't okay, but they were able to keep on going.'

'They're all strong.' She followed his gaze outside.

'You're strong too, you know.'

She wanted to go against this comment, but he was too quick.

'You are strong. You've just proven yourself.'

He reached out with his hand and his fingers tangled with hers. He squeezed them a bit, encouraging her.

'Thank you, Charlie.'

They watched the sun go down and the day ended.


	11. Chapter 11: Romania

**Black Stained**

* * *

 _Chapter 11: Romania_

* * *

She had been afraid to travel all the way to Romania, but the journey had gone well and they arrived savely. The first thing she had felt, however, was the strong magic around here. It teased her and stung a little, but she had gotten used to it the longer she was there. Like he had said: It was a beautiful place. She enjoyed the outside more than she had expected to. The sun was rising and spread a beautiful light across the large reserve. It was huge, bigger than she had expected, too. They stood on top of a hill, watching over the reserve. He pointed out some things and told her a few specifics, like where the full-grown dragons were and the baby's, where the hospital was and where the encampments with all the residents were. They decended from the hill and he led her across the green fields. They arrived at a small cabin, which had been appointed to her, and he waited outside while she dropped off her bag and left to fill in the last paperwork.

* * *

'So, miss Potter, welcome to Romania!' Her new boss said.

She smiled a little awkward.

'How was your journey? Did Charlie here treat you all right?' He asked, trying to make her a little more comfortable.

'Oh, it went great, really great. Charlie is very nice, he helped me out a lot.'

Indeed he had.

Her new boss was a male, probably in his mid-fifty's and had very piercing blue eyes. He had a couple of scars on his face and a big one across his eye, which was milky white, meaning he was half blind. Out of respect she didn't stare at it.

'Very good. He's a good lad.' He smiled again, wrinkling one of the scars on his left cheeck. 'Now, if you would, there is some paper work left to fill in.'

'Of course.'

He handed her some papers from the drawer and she quickly read them through. She believed it was alright and signed. She handed back the papers.

'Thank you.'

He carefuly placed them back in the drawer, stood up from his chair and walked around his desk.

'Charlie will show you everything around here, I'm sure, and will explain to you what the routine around here is.'

She stood up too and shook his hand with a firm grip. She left the office and looked for Charlie. She found him not too far, speaking to an acquaintance, she presumed. He looked very muscular next to the other skinnier man. It was a bald, mid-thirthies guy, with a tanned skin and dark eyes, he seemed nice. She approached them and he noticed her and said something to Charlie. Who then turned around and greeted her, motioning for her to join them. She walked over to them and Charlie introduced them to each other. His name was very compicated, but everyone called him Tuck, and he was a native Romanian.

'Very nice to meet you, miss.' Tuck bowed slightly, grinning.

'You too, Tuck.' She responded with a smile.

'Tuck here, takes care of the full-grown dragons, like me.' Charlie explained.

'Which is very dangerous, by the way.' Tuck winked.

'Don't start bragging, Tuck.' Charlie teased. 'We both know I've got more scars than you.'

'Who's bragging now?' Aral said.

They laughed at her comment. From afar a woman called out to the men and they greeted her.

'I quess I'll show you the rest.'

Charlie led the way and Tuck left to start his shift. Aral kept quiet now.

'You alright?'

'Yeah, it's just new.' Aral explained.

'And a bit freightening.' She confessed.

'Yeah, I understand.'

'You understand a lot.'

He smiled at her words.

'To make it less frightening for you to be here, I will show you the little ones.'

They walked over a gravel road and passed the encampment on the south side of the reserve. He motioned to his right and said:

'Here are the bigger cabins. Mostly for people with family's and some officers, like our boss.'

The cabins were quite bigger than Aral's, completed with a porch even.

'Do family's live this closely to the dragons?'

Aral asked, surprised.

'Well, most of them don't. There are some who have a cabin further away, across the hills.'

He pointed with his tumb behind him, meaning the hills behind the office. As far you could call it an office, it was a tent with an enlargement spell on the inside and luxurious furniture. _Not much to call an office_ , Aral thought.

'And there are hardly any children, 3 at the moment. And they are all going to school now, so hardly any danger.'

They now passed an encampment with smaller cabins.

'Here are the smaller ones, like ours.'

Aral could spot hers, small and on the corner, front row to the left. Next to her cabin there was a grass field and her eyes travelled further up to finally rest on a circular building with a dome. Plants were scattered around the place and some grew on the walls of the building. The magical pressure returned and she felt her heart beat quicken with every step she got closer to the dome. Charlie noticed her uneasiness. But she took resolute steps and showed no fear.

'They carry a lot of magic.' She commented.

'Yes, and remember they are very funerable.'

She nodded. She had been filed on everything and understood mostly about the dragons, the little ones, anyway.

'It will take a while, untill you get used to the feeling.'

She nodded again.

Charlie stepped in front of her suddenly and turned towards her. She almost bumbed into him, but she stopped just in time.

'I know we've talked about it already and prepared you for it. But still...'

He looked into her eyes, his eyes filled with worry and he frowned.

'We aren't sure if this may help me. I know.'

She assured him.

'I just don't want anything to happen to you, okay?'

She laughed and turned away from him.

'I would be more concerned about the dragons than me, really.'

She shook her head and continued walking, not really wanting to have this conversation again.

'By the way, where is the fearless dragon trainer I've heard so much about? I thought his name was Charlie, but apparently I have gpt the wrong one!' She teased.

He followed her and his lips formed into a grin. She was being a little positive again, which always was a good sign.

'Well, I quess we'll just have to find out how this will end.'

Aral smiled at him and stopped before the entrance of the building. There was a arch instead of a door, which was overgrown with beautiful plants. There was also a sign, but she couldn't read the words, for they were in Romanian.

'What does it say?'

'Little Fire.' He answered with a chuckle.

She smiled. Little fire...

'Let's see if they like you. Do you've got your dragon skin?'

Aral checked her pockets and took them out. They were smooth, scale like gloves with a blueish grey colour. She put them on and felt a strange aura coming from her hands, now covered in the scales. Strange, but nice. Charlie let her enter first, like a gentleman. She hadn't realized first, but as soon as she stepped through the entrance she knew she had stepped through a protective barrier. She tensed at first, overtaken by the sudden magic. But nothing happened and Charlie stepped in behind her. His breath tickled her neck.

'You alright?'

'Yeah,' And she realised. 'I really am.'

She turned around and smiled up at him.

* * *

She had been introduced to two other care takers, one woman -Nicki- and a man -Levi-, with whom she will be working. Levi was another Romanian and Nicki was Dutch, to Aral's surprise, because she spoke very convincingly English. They both greeted her and showed her the dragon they were handling at the moment.

'This little one is a Romanian Longhorn.'

Levi handed over a small dragon with long, golden horns. She carefully took the dragon, trying not to get stabbed by it. The Longhorn looked at her a little distrustful. Funny how tiny animals can judge you anyway.

'His name is Zooth.'

Aral didn't really know what to do and just stood there waiting for something to happen. The dragon spread his wings a little, making a funny sound.

'After the sound he makes?' Aral quessed.

'Yes.' Nicki replied. She had a smooth, nice voice.

When nothing happened Aral decided to put him down on the table in front of her. There were some toys and Zooth focussed on them.

'So where are we excactly?' Aral questioned.

'We are in the surgery. Here we treat the ones that need it.' Levi explained.

'How many are there here? I mean surely not all little ones are parted from their mothers.'

'No, mostly they stay with their mothers. It's a nasty business coming in between a mother and its child. But sometimes we don't have a choice, the mother or baby can be sick and can't help themselves so we need to interfere. There are about 20 of them here now.'

They all looked very sad. They had a big heart for these creatures and Aral felt it affect her too. She was going to love them, she knew.

'Well, I'll do my best to help.' She said.

Levi and Nicki nodded at her thankful and they brightened up.

'We'll show you the areas where they stay.'

There were four doors around the circular surgery. The surgery turned out to be the centre of the building. They opened a door and let her through. She stepped into the room and her eyes widened with excitement. The room had been enlarged and seemed to be out in the open air, but she knew it possibly couldn't be. She supposed it was a charm simular to the one they used on the ceiling of the great hall in Hogwarts. She saw three dragons circling in the air and diving down to the ground, to rise again and play in the air. Aral was standing on a field of grass and rocks, some places of the grass had been burned.

'This is the air room.' Nicki smiled at Aral's excited face. 'Here stay the dragons most drawn and used to the very open air-environment.

Some of the little dragons noticed them and turned their heads, curiously hopping their way over. Levi put Zooth down and let him join the rest. Aral looked at Charlie, who smiled at her and nodded at her encouragingly. Slowly she took a few steps forward, trying not to scare or anger them. But they didn't show any bother and simple watched the new woman approach. One curiously tilted its head and hopped towards her. She looked at it and stopped walking when it spread its wings suddenly. She stood there frozen, waiting for something to happen. In her third year, the year of Buckbeak, she had learned not to do anything when a dangerous animal was near, unless of course she had no other choice.

'That's a-'

'Hungarian Horntail.' Aral finished.

'I wouldn't come too close, this one's got quite a temper.' Levi warned.

She didn't move, but she didn't feel scared either. She just stood there waiting.

'Like his mother.' Charlie said.

She noticed this comment and frowned at first. Then she made the connection.

'The mother is the Hungarian Horntail from the tri-wizard tournament?'

'Yes.'

'Why is he here?' Aral frowned and looked at it, checking for any wounds or cause explaining why it would be here.

'In the dark times of the war, wizards tried to tame the dragons, to make them fight for them. Of course these wizards were on you-know-who's side and they managed to turn some of the dragons, although they were never able to control them. Bithyna - his mother - didn't like the wizards, not that she ever liked us... But she protected her eggs at any cost.'

Levi paused for a second, probably recalling some horrid memories.

'When she came here, her condition was bad, very bad. We were able to help her and the eggs hatched, but the damage was too great.'

'She died.' Nicki's words stung.

Although it was the same dragon that almost killed her brother in their fourth year, she felt sorry for it. Every creature deserves to live a life much better than that. Aral's attention turned back to the Hungarian Horntail. It almost looked like he just understood what they had told her, his demeanor changed to something that looked very much like sadness. She slowly reached out her hand and hovered it in front of the little dragon. She felt the urge to comfort it and take away the pain, he might be having. For a short moment she thought he was going to let her pet him, but she thought wrong. He suddenly sprang back and flew away, seeming a bit distrustful still.

'Trust takes a while. Even with creatures.' Charlie said when Aral walked back, a little disappointed.

'They do seem to like you. It took me at least a week to be able to get close to them.' Levi laughed, encouragingly.

Aral gave him a smile and sighed, relieved. She was starting to get more comfortable, starting to feel like she belonged somewhere. Here. They left the air-room, Aral and Charlie said their goodbyes to the other two care takers and left. They walked side by side towards her cabin.

'You will do great, Aral.'

'Let's hope so.'


	12. Chapter 12: Hope

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 12: Hope_

* * *

Her first dinner at the reserve had been rather... uncomfortable. News of her arrival seemed to have spread across the place and everyone gazed at her. But they quickly turned away if her eyes met theirs staring. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and scrambled her food with her fork and once again met someone staring at her. She turned to her plate with a pile of uneaten food and sighed. _I guess I still have to find my place, after all._ She thought.

'Pay them no mind.'

She looked up to find Tuck sitting down across from her. His plate filled with a freshly cooked and baked meal. He took out his fork and knife and started eating. In less than a minute his plate was less filled than Aral's, while she had been trying to eat for over ten minutes now. He noticed her uneaten food.

'They always check out the new ones.'

She scoffed.

'Do they always stare as tedious and blankly at new ones, or is just me?' She asked boldly.

He swallowed his food and took a long sip of water. He was prolonging his time to answer. She looked right into his eyes, daring him to tell the truth. Although she already believed to know it.

'No.'

She nodded at him, understandig perfectly well her reputation had followed her.

'I had hoped to keep things to myself, to keep a low profile, but I guess even far away in Romania my reputation 'proceeds' me.'

She said with a thick layer of sarcasm on the word 'proceeds', leaning back on the back of her chair.

'So you really are Aral Potter.' A statement, no question.

She gave him a fake smile, sarcasm overflowing.

'The one and only. What gave me away?' She asked curious.

'Well, you were introduced to us as Aral and no surname was given. We were also briefed on the fact we did not need to know your surname, unless you gave it to us willingly.'

He took another sip. She waited patiently. After a moment he continued.

'We may not have seen many photo's of you or have seen you in real life, but your brother on the other hand...'

She didn't react, she waited for him to continue his story.

'Your features are much alike and if you put that together with a rare name -Aral-, you can put things easily together and figure out it had to be you.'

Aral smiled, truly now.

'Thank you, for being honest.'

He looked surprised at her.

'Many people lie to try not to hurt someone or upset them, as if I can't take it.' She explained.

'I've experienced a little too much from this.' She added and bowed over her plate. She tried to eat, to occupy herself with something and to ignore his gaze. It didn't linger for long, she was thankful for that.

They sat and ate their meals together, Tuck even had gotten a second plate, Aral was content with just one. When finished she excused herself and made for the entrance. She felt their eyes pricking in her back. She had the urge to turn around and ask them publicaly to stop, but she restrained herself from doing so. Before she could leave the canteen someone stalked over to her and stood between her and the entrence. Aral wasn't pleased by this, she wasn't in the mood for any talks. But her annoyance dissapeared when she realized it was Nicki.

'Want to walk back together?'

She referred to the cabins.

'Yeah, sure.'

Aral didn't dare to decline the offer. Together they left. Before the canvas of the tent closed Aral gave one look back at the eyes staring at her and quirked her brow, making them all suddenly very interested in their plates of food.

* * *

'Settling in alright?' Nicki asked.

They were walking down the gravel path and Aral pulled her goat tighter to leave out the cold.

'More or less.'

'More more or more less?'

Aral thought for a moment.

'Probably more less.'

'And why is that?'

'Well, with everyone looking at you when you walk by and whispering in hushed tones while you can hear them nonetheles isn't quite calming is it?'

Nicki laughed at her comment and Aral joined after a moment. They were almost at her cabin.

'I tried to make them stop staring at you, but with someone like you near... A war hero.' She shook her head.

Aral trained her eyes on her feet.

'I'm not a war hero.'

Nicki frowned, she wanted to ask further about the matter, but chose not to upon seeing Aral's negative reaction to it. They continued walking and parted ways when Aral arrived at her cabin.

Before Aral entered her new home she quickly turned around to call out to Nicki, but she was already out of sight. Sighing, Aral closed the door behind her and picked up the bag she had dropped off in the beginning of the day. She inspected the cabin, seeing it was small but cozy. Just a bit empty. She quessed it was better if she started unpacking immediately and threw her bag on her small bed. She pulled out her clothing and placed them in her closet. She scrambled through her bag and pulled out some stuff and decorations. She didn't own much, she never really valued things. She valued moments and laughs, even if she had just few of them. On the bottom of her bag she found a picture. She picked it up and looked at it; it was a picture of her and Harry. They were only twelve years old in this one, still happy and not so much affected by the darkness, not aware of what the future was bringing for them. She had had another picture of them both, but it had disappeared. She placed it next to her bed and turned to her bag. There were several books and material things like a quill, ink and parchment. She pulled out some books and wanted to turn around and find a place to put them, but then something fell on the ground with a soft thud and she turned back. She bent down and picked it up. The light wood felt familiar in her fingers and she traced the patterns of the carved wood. She hadn't used her wand for a very long time. Not wanting nor needing to use it. She bit on her lip and slowly placed it on her bed. The tingling in her fingers returned. She inhaled and exhaled deep and slowly. This wasn't a good time to loose control. The tingling didn't increase, nor did she start to tremble, but it didn't stop either. The tingling stayed. She forced herself to focus on something else and turned to her books, she picked them up and stalked towards her 'living room'. A small couch was pushed against a wall, a table was neatly placed in front of it. She scanned the small place for a good place to put her books, but her attention soon drifted from her books to her fingers. Although she was holding the books, they felt like they had started to tremble. She inhaled sharply. The book on top of the pile in her hands was a book about the power of dragons. Wasn't it working? Did their theorie not aply to her? Maybe it was too strong and the strong magic around her couldn't decrease its power? Questions were swirling around in her head and she couldn't stop it. No, no! She had been wrong to think this could help her, that this idea could cure her. Why had she come here? What if she hurts someone? A knock on her door interrupted her inner war.

'Who's there?' She asked with a trembling voice.

'It's me, Charlie.'

She dropped her books on the table and calmed herself a bit. She stalked over to the door and pulled it open. Charlie was standing on the other side leaning against the wall. He pushed off the wall and turned towards her. First he smiled then, after seeing her paling face, he frowned.

'Everything alright? You look like a ghost.'

She cleared her throat and rubbed a hand over her face.

'Yes, I'm alright.'

Charlie quirked a brow, questioning her response.

'No, I'm not alright.'

She confessed quickly. She stepped back to allow him in. He didn't allow himself to waiste time by looking around the place or sit down on the couch. No, he immediately turned back to her and watched her intently.

'Tell me.'

He didn't need to tell her what exactly and she took a deep breath before letting it all out.

'I was unpacking and I found my wand and my fingers started to tingle like they always do when something bad is about to happen. I tried to work it off and kept unpacking, but then I started to tremble and-' She paused to catch her breath. '- I got anxious and everyone has been staring at me all day and it really has gotten on my nerves.'

She exhaled and turned around, her back now facing Charlie. Her hands were still trembling and a headache started to come up. Trying to make them both stop she clutched both hands on either side of her face, covering her ears and her fingers tangling with her wild hair. She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes. She forgot what she just told Charlie and forgot he was even there in her cabin and focussed all her attention on making things stop. She just wanted it to stop so she could leave Romania and forget about her mistake of coming here in the first place. But it didn't stop and she had no power or knowledge on how to stop. She felt like crying, but she would never cry, she would never show weakness again. In the back of her head something screamed at her of listening to the dark lords words, but she ignored it.

Before anything could happen, Charlie knew what he had to do. He had to calm her down. Not with a hug, or reassuring words. No, he had a feeling none of that would work at this moment. He needed to do something... He got an idea. He slowly walked around her and stood in front of her, slowly he raised his hands and pulled hers down. She froze when his skin touched hers, but she didn't open her eyes nor spoke. He took her hands and gently pulled them as he walked backwards. He guided her slowly of the steps and made sure she didn't walk into something and guided her over the grass, not bothering to use the gravel paths. She still looked very pale and her eyes stayed shut. After a minute or two walk, he arrived at an arch and they stepped through. She let out another shaky breath.

'Where are we going?'

He didn't answer her. Instead he pulled her a couple of meters forward and then came to a halt. She heard him do something, but she couldn't guess what.

'Don't be scared.' He said suddenly.

'I'm not scared.'

She couldn't see his face, but she could feel him grin.

'Should I be scared?' She asked.

Once again he didn't answer her question. She frowned. He took hold of her hands again and pulled her forward. She gasped when her feeth touched the freezing water. She gritted her teeth.

'It's freezing!'

'Yeah, sorry. I don't think my warming spell is applied properly.'

'Well, you aren't wrong.'

He muttered some words again and her feet suddenly felt a bit warmer, though they were still a bit cold.

'Will you open your eyes?'

He asked soflty, but she could feel his breath tickle her cheeks, he was standing close. She tried to think of were they were, but her mind didn't seem to want to do such a thing as thinking. Her mind was one blank space and she sighed. And then suddenly something struck her; they were at a dragon reserve, which holds every sort of dragons, including water dragons and they walked through something that felt awfully a lot like a protection barrier. She gasped and at the same time as her eyes flung open a loud roar in the distance erupted from the water surface.

'Water dragons.' She breathed, eyes widened.

'Yes.' Charlie chuckled.

'Are you trying to get me killed, because if so there are much easier ways to do so.'

Charlie rolled his eyes.

'I'm simply testing our theory. If I wanted to kill you -which I never would- I would not do it by feeding you to the dragons.'

'Well that's reassuring.' She said dryly.

'By the way, there's no danger standing here. There still is a protection barrier between us and the dragons.'

Although the sky had already darkened, she could see a glimps of the barrier. She thought back at what he had said about testing our theory.

'The theory was wrong.'

She said staring into the dark, where just moments ago a dragon had roared.

'How can you give up that easily?' He asked, with a bit of disbelief hidden in his voice.

'I don't give up that easily!'

'Don't you?'

His words made her rethink everything, from the moment she had tried to fight the dark within her. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. She had stopped hoping, stopped believing things could go right again. She had lost her hope.

'I lost hope.'

'There will always be hope.'

'Will there be?'

She turned her head to look at him. She saw curiosity and sadness in his eyes, no pity, no anger.

'In the darkest moments of life, can there still be hope? When everything you hold dear is cut away and replaced with madness and darkness?'

She looked at him intently and he looked back. She turned to face him fully. Something in her fluttered making her nauseous.

'When there is no life left to live, only pain, suffer and anger?'

She saw him stiffen at her words. He was at a loss of words. She turned back facing the large lake. She couldn't see any of the dragons, but she was sure they could see her. She felt her freezing feet and the cold wind around her. She wanted to turn around, walk away and sit in front of a good fire with a blanket, a hot mug of tea and a book. But she couldn't move a muscle, she stood frozen in a lake. _With dragons._ She mused to herself.

'Do you feel tingling?' He suddenly asked.

She was startled by this sudden question. She turned to look at him, but he was staring over the lake.

'No.'

She replied after a moment.

'Are you trembling?'

'From the cold.'

He turned to look at her. He didn't need to say any words, for his eyes spoke for him. He had just proven himself right, she had calmed down, she was in control again. She looked down at her feet and the rippling water. She had wrapped her arms around herself from the cold, but it hadn't worked. The cold left her when Charlie's coat was draped around her shoulders. She looked up at him again, into his beautiful dark grey eyes.

'There's still hope, Aral.'

She nodded at him in response, not able to do much more.

'I'm thankful for this calming and encouraging session in the lake, but I'm kind of freezing my toes off.'

'Oh, no! I'm sorry! I should really work on my warming spells.'

He looked very regretful. Just when she wanted to move, he scooped her up. Effortlessly he carried her back. She opened her mouth to complain, but he was quicker.

'Don't say I can't carry you all the way back, because -lets be honest- we've already done this.'

Aral shut her mouth and blushed, lucky for her it was dark and he could not see it.

'We should stop ending in these situations.' She commented.

'I can't quite agree.'

She quirked a brow at him. He smirked down at her.

'I quite like saving the day.'

She rolled her eyes.

They walked back together, well, Charlie walked with Aral in his arms. They didn't say another word and enjoyed the silence.


	13. Chapter 13: Shining

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 13: Shining_

* * *

It was a very rainy and windy day, fortunately for Aral, she had been inside for most of it. Her task wasn't complicated; she had to serve breakfast, then take one of the dragons to the surgery room, feed it some candy and play with it a bit. As Nicki had described it to her; forming a band between you and the dragon, which will make them easier to handle. Nicki and Levi sometimes helped in the morning, but their work was more focussed on taking care of the dragons medically. With magic. Aral found herself extremely lucky with two colleagues, so if anything went wrong -If their was magic needed- they could intervene. She had discovered that the rooms behind the doors all represent one of the four elements. Water, fire, earth and air. She had also learned to be more careful around the fire room, although they were little the dragons were still very dangerous. They had almost set her hair on fire. Breakfast was served all at once in their rooms. She only had to place large buckets of food in front of them and in less than a minute she could pick up the emptied buckets and clean them up. Taking each dragon -one by one- to the surgery and 'form a bond' took a lot more time. When she was almost at the end of her shift she felt like she could sleep standing, not even bothering to feed her empty and growling stumach. She brought back Zooth to the air room and checked her list, in the hope he was the last one, but she read one other name at the bottom of her list.

Gemi.

She sighed but quickly got to work, she didn't want to slow on her first day already. Gemi had been assigned to the air room, this relieved her, she didn't want to deal with another fire dragon today. She checked if her dragon skin jacket and gloves were still in its place and walked around the room. She could see Zooth, Bith (the hungarian horntail), Tal, Ami and Saph, which she had already gotten acquainted with. But no where she could find a dragon called Gemi, she called its name a couple of times and walked through the whole room (even this enlarged room had corners and walls), but it was no where to be found. She stood there for some moments, contemplating ideas where it could be. A very small voice in the back of her head whispered something.

 _Revelio._

She shook away the thought, she was determined not to use any sort of magic. She wasn't ready. A cool breeze moved her hair and made her skin tingle of cold. The small dragons were playing with each other, one -Saph- was already starting to overgrow the lenght that could be held here, soon she would have to be moved to the larger holdings. She fell into a trance, watching the little ones play and feel the cold breeze which made goosebumps appear all over her skin. When she got nearly hit by a bolt of flames she duck away and snapped out of her trance.

 _Gemi._

Hastily she stalked back to the surgery. Levi was still working with a dragon and didn't notice Aral walk -almost run- into the room.

'Levi?' She interrupted him.

He looked up and slowly lifted the dragon -Balon she believed- onto the table and gave it a toy to pass the time. He turned to Aral and gave her his full attention.

'Can I help you?'

'Yes. I'm almost finished with my list, I only have to take care of a dragon called Gemi, but I can't seem to find it. It is no where to be found in the room.'

She grew more anxious the more she thought about it, losing a dragon on her first day at work... Disaster. To her surprise Levi started to chuckle and she frowned.

'Oh Aral... I'm quite sure she's there.'

'Then were is it? Did I check the wrong room? It's assigned to the air room, right?'

She was starting to feel stupid. The smirk on his face only grew. She told herself to keep it together and straightened her back.

'No. I'll show you.'

He stood up and picked up Balon. They dropped him off at the water room and she followed Levi to the air room. Curiousity grew inside her. They walked toward a place she was convinced of she had checked thrice already. They walked over the soft grass untill their feet met the hard stone. There were some rocks piled up and spread around the place. Levi walked around it and checked some corners, he then walked back over to her side. She looked at him and raised her brow in a questioning manner. He didn't say anything, instead he pointed with his hand towards the right of the pile and nodded. She frowned again and walked over to the rocks laying there. First she saw nothing and on the moment she wanted to turn around and tell him so, she saw something which caught her attention. Slowly she approached the shimmer of light and tried to figure out where it came from. Once she was near enough she found out the light got reflected by... scales. Beautiful scales, all neatly in rows and together forming a harness with nothing as equally strong. A dragons skin. Her eyes met a pair of multi-coloured, pupil-less eyes, reflecting all the colours in the world. She felt like she sunk into water and floated in the air, like she was heated with fire and her fingers dug into the earth. It all was so overwelming, but also very peaceful. All her problems left her and she could breath in the air freely again, without pressure or a heavy weight on her shoulders. She didn't fall into a trance, she was completely present. She was struck by its beauty.

'It is so beautiful.' She breathed almost too soft for Levi to hear.

'Yeah, she is.'

The dragon -Or Gemi- didn't react to her being there, it did however crawl deeper and further into the shadows when she took another step forward. She tried to reach out, but a beam of vivid scarlet flames was shot towards her. She stayed back, remembering not all dragons trust a new face that easily. A small smile formed on her lips, for she recognized this behaviour with herself too.

'Can you quess what kind of dragon it is?' Levi asked.

Grey skin, was the first thing she thought about. It could be a Ukrainian Ironbelly or a swedish short snout, but this dragon didn't have red eyes or a blue flame. No, it had pupil-less, mulit-coloured eyes and a vivid scarlet flame. Vivid scarlet.

'Vivid sc-' She murmured staring into the its eyes.

She slowly took a step forward and crouched down on her knees, focussing all her energy on sending out a positive and safe aura.

'An Antipodean Opaleye?' She couldn't believe it.

'Very smart.' Was his only answer.

Her eyes were locked onto the eyes of the creature. She felt something, but didn't know what exactly.

'Your skin... Your scales...' She didn't notice herself speaking to the dragon directly, Levi did and he frowned at her actions. She was still moving very slowly towards it and to his amazement it didn't move. It was staring back.

'What happened to your colour?'

Antipodean Opaleye usually had a less scarred and more coloured skin. Somehow she felt herself drawn to it and it drawn to her.

'Gemi.'

She was so near. Levi wanted to answer her question, but his thoughts carried away when all of his attention flowed to the sight before him. Aral felt as if all her movements were slowed down and time stopped running. Her hand gracefully lifted in the air landed only inches in front of the dragon and hovered in the air, inviting the dragon, trying to coax her out of the shadows she had crept into. Gemi took the bait. Her nose slowly moved forwards, the hot air from her nostrils tickled Aral's fingers. But she didn't pull away, it didn't burn her. The scales felt both soft and rough on her own skin. How strange that two totally opposite things can be found in one and the same thing. She didn't move and let Gemi move closer to her. Gemi slowly pushed her head into her hand, like a cat wanting to be stroked by its owner. Her thumb slowly moved circles on the side of her face. Everything was peacefully quiet, even the dragons playing with each other couldn't be heard. Levi was helding his breath. A sound made Gemi pull her head back suddenly and she wanted to crawl back into the darkness, but Aral tried to stop her.

'Wait, shh, calm down. It's okay! It's okay.'

It was something she told herself, when she was scared -which she never liked to admit- and wanted to creep back into the shadows.

'It's okay.'

Gemi looked at her, again a little distrustful. Aral somehow knew what to do, like a feeling. She sighed. When the air escaped her lips she closed her eyes and did something she hadn't done in a very long time. She opened her eyes and looked into Gemi's. She believed to recognize something like shock in her pupil-less eyes, but if it had been there it was gone as soon as it had come. Before Gemi now where a pair of shiny, golden eyes. Something that used to happen to her very often when she was younger and lost control or used a lot of magic. Then it had been a reflection of power, now it was meant for trust. And, to Aral's happiness, it seemed to work. Gemi moved back into the light and curiously looked at the kneeled down witch with golden eyes. There seemed to be an understanding between the two. They both were extraordinary and both dangerous creatures. The golden eyes dissappeared, but trust had been formed. Gemi came nearer and allowed Aral to pick her up and carry her across the field. Aral walked past Levi who was still a bit baffled. It was then that she noticed the other dragons had stopped playing and now were just low on the ground, glanzing at her direction. She kept on walking untill she arrived at a table in the surgery.

* * *

She had come to really enjoy the little Gemi. She was a little shy, but a beautiful creature on its own. She wasn't part of the group and barely played or interacted with them, but was more on her own. Which resembled Aral a bit. Although she loved the reserve and working there, she was still a bit parted, not yet part of the group. But she didn't know if she also wanted to be part of it, she had always been good on her own. Besides them she had become friends with Nicki, Levi and Tuck. Charlie wasn't much around, he worked on the other side of the reserve and at other times. She missed his familiar face sometimes, it can become quite lonely, but she didn't mind. After a quick meal at the canteen she left to see if she could find Charlie, he was supposed to have a break around this time. She didn't find him and then returned to her cabin. She picked a book from her shell and took a blanket, wrapping herself like a burrito and laying down on her couch. As much as she loved reading books originating from the wizarding world, she loved to read muggle books once in a while. Tonights entertainment; the shining. Although she didn't particularly like any sort of horror this one intrigued her. After reading almost for three hours she finished the book. It had chilled her to the bone, a horrifying and at the same time incredibly fascinating book. She noticed it was time to go to bed already. Her shifts started pretty early and after today she had learned a good start needed enough energy. When she lay down she realized how tired she actually was and she slept almost instantly, dreaming of little dragons, hotels, burning hair and a brown-red haired guy.


	14. Chapter 14: New faces

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 14: New faces_

She had decided to eat her breakfast at the small table in her cabin, not in the mood for the prying eyes. Although the amount of eyes had decreased since last week it still got on her nerves. Her food lay on her plate, half eaten, and her tea cupped in her hands was momentarily only used for the heat. The damp ascended under her chin and tickled her skin with heat, while she just stared in front of her, book on her lap, unread. Her eyes watched through the window opposite her and saw the morning commence. Although her eyes were looking, nothing -or maybe very little- registered in her mind. People passing, starting their shift or just coming off. Dew on the grass dripping and disappearing into the ground. Her breathing was slow and her heart beat calm. She could almost hear her own heart beating in the silence of her surroundings. This place, Romania, was so peaceful... She had finally found a place of peace and peace in her self when she had arrived and the days after. But somehow, no matter where she was, reality was able to find her and catch up with her. Letters arrived for her, by owl, knocking on her windows. They were from Harry and Ginny, Hermione, Molly, even Ron -Though short- and other members of the Weasley family.

 _Weasley family... Am I no part of it anymore?_

She had always been welcomed, since they -Harry and she- had been young the family had exepted them, but know she felt... parted. She shook the nagging feeling in the bottom of her belly away. She didn't want to read the letters, but Charlie had urged her to, he said it would be better if she did. She had sent them a letter telling she was alive and kicking, but she didn't tell them where exactly she was and what she was doing. Only a sign of life. Life. What kind of life was she living? Her trail of thoughts got interupted by an owl knocking on the window glass. Fresh air filled her longs when she opened the window. She recognized the big, black owl, Harry's new owl.

'Hello there.'

She tended to start talking to animals nowadays, maybe because it was her main job nowadays. Talking and bonding with dragons. She gave it some nuts and let it nibble on them while she read her newly arrived letter. Harry, again. Her troublesome brother never gave up. Sighing she unfolded it and started reading.

 _Dear Aral,_

 _I've been trying to reach you._ -'Oh really, all those letters were from you?' Aral thought sarcastically.

 _As I've told you in the last couple of letters... We are worried sick. Please tell me -or us- where you are?_

 _I'm not even sure you're reseaving these letters. For all I know you could be kidnapped. Except for -of course- the letters you sent us._

 _Your 'signs of life', as Ginny nicknamed them._

 _Speaking of Ginny, she's been excepted to the holly head harpies, not the main team of course, but I believe she can make it eventually._

 _And Ron is doing alright. Were both doing great with our auror training._

 _To be honest, I have no idea what I'm supposed to write you. I don't even know if you will read this, it could be these letters are all dumped in a lake._

 _God, Aral, please..._

 _I have no idea what to do without you!_

 _Where are you?_

 _Please, Aral... -_ She could picture Harry writing this letter, sitting frustrated in a chair, hands in his hair and grunting.-

 _-Harry_

She dropped the letter on her table. She could still see traces of tears on the dried paper. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart started aching. He was worried and desperate. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She let go of all the feelings that pained her and formed a wall around her heart. But it wasn't a solid wall. She turned to the owl and moved it towards the window. She could feel the small magic surrounding the owl, meaning Harry had once again put a tracing charm on it. But Aral knew she was save, the magic around this place altered and some times even deflected small charmes. He couldn't trace her all the way here. She picked up the letter and placed it on a rapidly growing pile of letters in the corner of her 'living room'. It was time to go to work and she took a last sip of her tea. She swallowed it with disgust, it had cooled down. She threw the rest in the sink and set out to the baby dragon centre, with a feeling of sadness and wariness filling her heart.

* * *

Her day at the centre had been tyring, she had to give lots of attention to lots of dragons. Lucky for her one of the dragons was being transferred to the larger holdings today. It was supposed to be Nicki and Levi's job, but Nicki had become ill this morning and had asked Aral to replace her. She was nervous about the job. Once Levi returned -which could be any moment- they would bring Saph and meet other care takers at the entrance of the hills. Secretly she hoped Charlie would be there. Levi had assured her that there was no magic supposed to be involved -he was aware about her troubles with performing magic. But she could only hear the word 'supposed' echo in her head. What if it went wrong? What if she had to do something?

 _Get yourself together!_

She mentally screamed at herself.

 _Levi and others will be present._

That thought helped a bit with her anxiety. She straightened up and looked at herself in a reflecting piece of furniture in the surgery. Some wild hairs were dangling in front of her face and she pushed them behind her ears, a hopeless atempt, they almost immediately fell back. She stared herself in the eyes, watching them, inspecting to see some dark shimmer appear, but they stayed green. Maybe the place did help her after all. She had found to have more control here, she was less afraid of losing control and make bad things happen. She looked down at her hands and turned them over. A lamp on a desk caught her eye. Would she do it? Would she experiment and see if she could do something without breaking it? She didn't even notice moving herself over to the desk until she was so close to the lamp if she bent down her nose would touch it. She hastily turned around and stalked to the other side of the room.

 _Have you lost your mind?!_

Now she didn't do anything, but wait for Levi and stare at the wall opposite her. She fell into a doze and closed her eyes. A squeaking sound startled her and she pushed away from the wall to face the noise-maker. She regained a relaxed pose when she realized it was Levi coming up to her.

'Hey, sorry, didn't mean to startle you.' Levi apologized holding his hands up.

'You didn't.' She quickly replied.

He gave her a small smile.

'Good, are you ready to go?'

'Yeah, of course.'

They moved to the air room and picked up Saph, who had grown large, almost the size of a small pony, even bigger when it spread its wings. Gemi happily came from her hiding place and hopped over to Aral. She felt a bit better when her eye caught the happy little Gemi. But sadly she had no time to play with Gemi and had to leave when they had finaly and savely apprehended the larger and stronger dragon. With the size and capabilities it had now it could do a lot more damage than the smaller ones, therefore they had to be extra careful. She quickly glanzed over to Gemi and saw her look a little disappointed, but Aral had other matters to attend to. Saph was being coaxed into a magical cage and levitated in the air by Levi. With a last look of goodbye to Gemi they left and walked out of the centre.

They walked passed the big lake containing the water dragons Aral had met before. Thinking back at that night made her smile a little, but she quickly hid it. The gravel beneath their feet gave a crunching noise with every step they took. It was warmer that day, no clouds that hid away the sun and heat. There was a silence between her and Levi, but it was a pleasant one, not awkward at all. But eventually Levi broke it.

'The dragons have made great improvement.'

She didn't understand how he meant it and therefore gave him a simple reply.

'Really?'

He looked back over his shoulder at the dragon currently curled up in his cage and then looked at her again.

'Ever since you arrived we have less sick and weak ones.'

She was surprised by what he said, she never imagined to be the source of something good. She gave him a look of surprise.

'You have even -somehow, I don't know how- affected the full-grown ones.'

'Well, it pleases me very much to know I am able to help.'

'You're being too shy.' He chuckled.

'Not as shy as you are.' She teased him, wanting to change the subject.

'What do you mean?' He asked.

Aral smiled, she had seen the way he looked at Nicki, not only admiringly... He fancied her. Although she was guessing, she was pretty sure she was right.

'I mean, I'm not sure, but...' She smirked up at him. 'You seem rather fond of Nicki, don't you?'

He avoided her gaze and instead watched his feet moving over the gravel. A shy shade of pink coloured his cheeks, giving away his shame.

'No need to be ashamed, Levi! She's very nice.'

He was still watching his feet.

 _Are all dragon trainers tough on the outside and softer than feathers on the inside?_ She thought.

She stept in front of him making him stop walking and look up at her. She had the urge to grab his shoulders and shake some sense in him, but was able to restrain herself just in time.

'Levi, you are a dragon tamer-'

'Care taker.' He corrected her.

'You work with dragons, one of the most dangerous species on this earth and up-close work too. How can you be afraid of asking Nicki on a date?'

It was a very direct question on the matter and it made him swallow and shift on his feet, uncomfortably.

'What if- What if she doesn't-... like me?' The question came out very difficult, she didn't blame him, she was attacking him with questions about a private matter. She made a mental note to apologize later for barging into his personal life like this.

'You save little dragons and help others to give them a better life, how can she not love you for that?'

She said, hoping to encourage him. She stepped aside and continued walking to the hill entrace again. Levi quickly caught up.

'So you really think I- Should I ask her? On a date I mean?'

He sounded so shy, it was almost cute.

'Yes, I think so. Hiding your feelings can have terrible effect on your future.' She knew this out of experience.

He nodded and said, more to himself that to her:

'Alright then, I will.' He swallowed again.

They finally arrived at the entrance and joined the other group at the foot of the hills. To her disappointed she saw Charlie was not there.

'Right on time. Everything went alright?' An older man with dark eyes and brown hair asked with a thick accent.

'Yes, everything went perfectly well. Saph was no trouble at all.'

'I didn't mean the dragon.'

Aral raised her eyebrows. Before Levi could reply she cut in the conversation.

'If that's a way of asking if I did my job right than I say to you: you should be able to see we have all three arrived, without any wounds or burns and without breaking a sweat. And might I ad it went perfectly well, like he said.'

She crossed her arms for dramatic effect. The older man looked a bit perplexed at her sudden snarl.

 _Probably not the best way to make a first impression, Aral._ She thought to herself and once again mentally punished herself for it.

The silence builded and the pressure added with every passing second. She shifted in her pose and sighed. What she was about to do was going to leave a small scar on her pride and gryffindor self. She took a deep breath and very quickly, wanting it to be over as quickly as possible, she apologized to the man.

'I'm sorry, sir, I'm not having the best morning of my life.'

There, it was said. Wasn't that hard. She dared to look him in the eye. He seemed to except her apology and nodded at her understandingly.

 _Thank Merlin._

'We all have those once in a while.' A stranger said.

She turned to the new voice and saw a handsome young man. Handsome was the first word that came to her mind, he truly was. If he would want to he could probably end up in Witches Weekly number one every week on the list of most handsome wizards. She shook those thoughts out of her head.

 _What the hell are you doing?_

She looked at him, but didn't let her eyes linger. She could tell from the way he was standing and how he looked he recieved much attention from ladies, and she didn't want to be one of them. She wasn't like that, she never was.

'Lets get going. I rather have this done before christmas.' Another said, with a heavy scottish accent.

They followed him through the entrance and up in the hills. Distant roars and the sound of flapping wings informed them of the dangers that lay ahead. Aral could not help, but be very excited to meet the full-grown air dragons.


	15. Chapter 15: True or False?

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 15: True or False?_

A small group dragon tamers walked up to the tent in centre of the reserve. The canteen was swarming with people like an ants nest. They made small talk with each other while getting their food and walking over to the tables and benches.

'That's your theory? Don't make me laugh.' A younger woman with a hooked nose said to a middle-aged woman with blonde hair.

Two other man sat down across from them, sharing a look with each other.

'Tsk.' The blonde disagreed. 'As if your theory is any better.'

'But I have a reliable source! Nothing you can say.' She argued.

This caught the interest of the other and the rest of their company, whom had first ignored their bickering.

'I received a letter from my mother, with an artical from the daily prophet.'

In Romania they hardly received the widely known newspaper.

'So what was it about?' One of the man dared to join in to the gossiping.

Her eyes glittered with excitement when she shoved the small piece of paper over the table for the rest to read. Their eyes widened in shock and the blonde even gasped.

'I still don't believe it.' The older man said.

'How can you not after reading this?' The hook nosed woman exclaimed.

'Because it is written by Rita Skeeter.' The man stated turning back to his lunch and continuing to eat.

'And what's wrong with that? She is a formidable writer.'

'That woman makes up the stories she writes. She's better at it than Gilderoy Lockhart faking his fame.'

'On the contrary, she writes the truth! She isn't scared of admitting to the facts. She discoveres liars who try to burry their nasty little secrets, such as miss Potter.'

The man only shook his head. He muttered something incomprehensible, which sounded a bit like:

'Has her brain been sucked out by nargles or something?'

Only the other man next to him was able to hear it and he silently chuckled at his comment, while the two women proceeded in their bickering.

The younger man turned to the older and was curious about the way the latter had responded to Rita Skeeter's article.

'How come you don't believe Rita Skeeter?'

He watched the older man intently. The older man's face contorted into a grumpy expression, clearly not fond of the subject. When he finally finished chewing and swallowing his food he turned to the younger.

'You remember I'm a widower, right?'

The younger nodded. He has been friends ever since he came to work with the man and they had shared some stories and secrets. The older looked around to check nobody was listening to them, he didn't want to share such information as this except with his friend.

'She died in an accident. The ministry had made a mistake, a huge mistake. It's too long a story to tell all of it now, but the result of their mistake was her death.'

He looked down at his plate, obviously still hurt by the loss of his wife and angry at the ministry.

'My wife was perfectly innocent, she had nothing to do with any of it. And yet Rita Skeeter - the foul liar - had made her responsible for the accident. Ever since the article came out in the Daily Prophet people started to judge her and memories of her were spoiled by lies.'

He shook his head.

'Don't believe a word of what that witch writes or says.'

The younger nodded at him. They continued eating in silence for a couple of minutes.

'So...' The younger started. 'What do you believe happened to Aral Potter?'

The older thought for a moment.

'I don't have a theory specifically. But I don't believe that she killed muggles or followed you-know-who willlingly, nor that she is his child. Those are ludicrous ideas.'

'Do you think she still has her magic?'

The older frowned.

'How could she not? You are born with magic, you don't receive or take magic, nor can it be taken away from you.'

'But have you seen her practise magic? Because I haven't, never.'

'She doesn't have to she only takes care of the little ones, feed them and such. By the way, you don't even work with her so how can you know?'

'That's true, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen her.'

The younger grinned at the older, the latter sighed.

'Why can't you just leave the knew one alone? Why do you always have to -how do you phrase it?- check them out.'

'Because it isn't very common for a newby to be a girl, pretty, famous and to like to work with dragons.'

The older rolled his eyes.

'Well, you should watch out. I heard she is a snappy one.'

'But no one can resist the charm of Sebastian.'

The blonde woman interfered, apparently the women had stopped bickering and had picked up on the the men's conversation. She winked at Sebastian.

'Well, thank you. Helga.'

Sebastian responded, it was very clear this comment stroked his ego.

'Everyone knows you only speak the truth.'

The older sighed at the younger's comment.

'Your ego is bigger than the biggest Ironbelly.'

The women laughed and Sebastian blushed.

'Thank you, Ben.' Sebastian said to the elder.

'Come on, we have to go to work.'

They got up and parted. The women worked at the hospital and the men set out for the entrance at the hills. They had a dragon to transfer today.

* * *

'I think I can see them.' The scot said.

'Good, I've waited long enough now. You think they had trouble?' A men said.

'Dunno.' The scot responded.

'Nicki and Levi never have trouble, they are a remarkable team.' Ben commented.

'Nicki isn't working today. She got ill this morning.' Another said.

'Than who replaced her? Surely Levi didn't go alone.' Ben asked.

'No, she told me Potter replaced her.' The scot told the group.

They all turned to him and raised a brow. The scot raised his hands in a defending gesture.

'Sorry, I didn't think it was that important to tell.'

They shook their head and turned back to the approaching dragon care takers.

Sebastian bent over to Ben.

'I finally have the privilege to meet her.'

'Don't go mess with her. Remember Julie?'

'I wasn't the one to blame!'

'She had a mental breakdown and had to resign.'

Sebastian chuckled, but quickly caught himself and coughed.

'I won't.' He promised his friend.

'Good. Here they are.'

Ben took a step forward.

'Right on time. Everything went alright?' He asked.

'Yes, everything went perfectly well. Saph was no trouble at all.' Levi answered.

He knew it went alright with the dragon, but that wasn't exactly what he was interested in and had intended with the question.

'I didn't mean the dragon.'

He looked at Aral Potter. He saw her brow raise and her face contorted into an expression of disbelieve. Levi had opened his mouth to respond, but Aral was quicker.

'If that's a way of asking if I did my job right than I say to you: you should be able to see we have all three arrived, without any wounds or burns and without breaking a sweat. And might I ad it went perfectly well, like he said.'

Crossing her arms as she spoke the words. He was perplexed by her response.

'Snappy.' He heard Sebastian quietly murmur behind him.

After a moment of silence and an awkwardness building around them, she surprised him even more by what she did next.

She shifted her pose to something that looked more humble and less snippy. She took a deep breath and apologized. She apologized.

'I'm sorry, sir, I'm not having the best morning of my life.'

She looked him in the eyes and he could only find sincerity. He nodded at her excepting her apology. She seemed releived. Of course Sebastian couldn't keep his mouth shut in the presence of a -like he put it- pretty, famous, dragon-interested girl. Woman-, Ben corrected himself.

'We all have those once in a while.' He smirked at her.

Ben had the urge to turn him around and tell him to leave her alone, but she seemed able to handle him perfectly well on her own. She looked at Sebastian, taking in his features, but her gaze did not linger, thus ignoring his charms. _Wise choice. Wise woman._ Ben thought to himself, he couldn't help, but chuckle silently.

'Lets get going. I rather have this done before christmas.' The scot said.

They followed him through the entrance and up in the hills. Distant roars and the sound of flapping wings informed them of the dangers that laid ahead.

'Maybe you should follow your own advise. She is snappy.' Sebastian chuckled.

'Ha-Ha. Keep walking, we're working. There's no time for your sad 'love life'.'

Ben kept on walking, but Sebastian paused, his ego was a little scarred by his friends comment.

'My love life is not sad!'

Ben only laughed at him. _It is, my friend._ He thought, but he kept silent.

* * *

Charlie was glad his shift was finally over and he returned to the canteen for lunch. He'd just had a long shift, working with the Earth dragons was very tyring, sometimes they were hard to find in the caves and mountains. He got his food and returned to his usual table. He sighed when in the corner of his eye he could see Britney walking up to his table. The annoying woman always tried to get his attention, which he hated. Everyone knew she fancied him, but he didn't like her, she was the most irritating person on the whole reserve.

'Charrrrrlie.' She purred.

He could almost hex her for pronouncing his name like that. Sometimes she even called him Charles, and no one was allowed to do that except for his mother!

'Long shift?' She asked.

'You tell me. You know my timetable from memory, do you not?' He said not even taking the effort to look up.

She now just stood there at his side. When he didn't invite her to sit down, she sat down her self. Right next to Charlie, too close in his opinion. When he scooped a little to the side to leave at least eleven inches between them, it didn't help, she just moved closer to him. He chopped his food angrily, focusing all his attention and irritation on his food. When she reached to touch his hand he quickly reached for some napkins on the table, she pulled her hand back, Charlie was releived by this.

'So...' She started.

Charlie didn't want to hear whatever she had to say, but he always acted as much as a gentleman he could to a woman, no matter how infuriating they were. So he let her speak.

'You know that knew girl, Aral, don't you?' She drew closer to him.

He could smell her perfume, which was way too sweet and she seemed to be drenched in it.

'What about her?'

'Well, I'm just curious, Charl. Will you tell me?'

He dropped his fork and sighed.

'First of: don't call me Charl. Second: What are you talking about?'

'Okay, _Charlie,'_ The sound of his name said by her still irritated him, but it was better than before. 'I'm talking about the rumors that are going around.'

He looked up, curious at last. This pleast her, _so this is how I get his attention?_

'I mean, no one really knows where she came from and how she is right now.'

He frowned. Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

'You know; does she still have her magic or where was she before she came her? Was she with death eaters after the war? Is she really you-know-who's child?'

She rattled in excitement. Charlie jumped up.

'What?!'

She chuckled at his reaction.

'Don't you know about the rumors?'

'I know there are rumors, but those rumors are- are... insane! I didn't think they went that far.'

'So they are not true?' She asked curiously, with a smirk still plastered on her face.

'Of course not, you daft cow!'

The moment the insult fell from his lips he regretted it, but he found a bit of pleasure from it. _Such a gentleman._ Charlie sneered at himself.

Her jaw dropped and her eyes were widened, he had never insulted or rejected her like this.

Apparently a few surrounding people had also heard him lash out at Britney. You could scrap 'a few'; everyone in the tent had heard him. Her gaze fell from his eyes and was now concentrated on her shoes. He still felt angry inside and he didn't care about anyone's oppinion at the moment and so he grapped his jacket and stormed out of the tent. Leaving behind a perplexed and shocked crowd. He could still picture Britney's shocked and ashamed face, he couldn't help but grin, maybe now he had finally gotten rid of her. He stalked off to the cabins on the south side. He needed to speak to Aral, right now.

* * *

He had knocked on her door for two minutes and then mentally slapped himself for his stupidity. It's the middle of the day, she is obviously working. He then quickly went to the centre, but he didn't find her there either. Who he did find there was a half sick Nicki.

'Nicki?'

Nicki turned around, showing him her tired, pale and slightly green face.

'Hey, Charlie. What's up?'

If she had felt better, she would have stood up, but she didn't feel better and stayed seated.

'Are you alright? You look a little pale.'

She put down the pen and paper she was holding.

'No, but I don't like lying down in my bed all day and I have some paperwork that needs to be finished. Also, Levi and Aral are not here and I figured someone should keep an eye on-'

'Wait, Aral isn't here?' Charlie interupted her.

'No? What is it, why do you need her?'

'It's just... I need to talk to her.'

'Well, today we had to transfer a dragon to the hills, but because I got sick I asked for Aral to take my place.'

'The hills?' Charlie asked.

Nicki noticed his slightly widened eyes, his hair was more wildly than normal and he seemed to be breathing heavily. He really wanted to speak to her.

 _What's this?_ She thought.

 _Did a woman finally catch the wild bachelor?_

But her thoughts got interupted when he asked again.

'The hills?' He took a step forward, urging her to answer.

'Yes, I just said that.'

Without a word of goodbye he left. Nicki frowned and was still a bit confused at her friends behaviour, she will ask Aral about it later, she figured.

* * *

Charlie tried calming himself.

 _It's not that urgent to run._

 _But it is urgent._

 _Stop._

 _Calm._

 _The rumors. The gossiping sisters of the hospital, they are the ones to blame._

 _Mean. Mad rumors. Mental, completely mental._

 _Aral... Poor Aral._

 _You have brought her here, stupid Charlie._

 _Where else could she go? Nowhere._

 _But here, with you._

 _I want to see her more. What has she been up to..._

 _Rumors. Urgent._

The thoughts whirled around his mind making him dizzy and not aware of his surroundings. He was now walking quickly, not yet running.

 _The hills, the hills._

He wanted to talk to her so badly. The last time he had spoken with her must have been almost a week ago.

 _A week!_

 _You haven't spoken to her for a week._

 _Stupid. How lonely must she have felt?_

 _With the rumors._

 _Why do people always have to gossip._

He was panting. Not because he was too walking fast. No he was a very fit guy, even played quidditch every now and then with friends. No, he was panting because he wasn't calm, he was angry and felt quilty, sad. He was almost there. He crossed the barrier and hiked up into the hills. The path took a sharp turn and he couldn't see anything beyond the bend. He was so focused on his sight that he didn't hear the distant roaring or the flapping wings. After the bend the hill got steeper. He knew that once he reached the top he could overlook the other hills. It was the same place were the second protective barrier was placed. And also most likely where Aral would be.

He reached the top. The green grass and bright blue sky was the first thing he noticed, then it was the group of people standing just on the other side of the barrier and last -but definitly not least- he noticed the huge dragon in front of them. His eyes widened. The transfer clearly wasn't going as smoothly as planned. At the same moment, orange sparks came out of his wand, meaning there was a dangerous situation, second there came purple sparks, meaning the hills. The message: immediate help requested, danger: a hostile dragon. Without even thinking or analysing the situation he sprinted down, with only one thought -or person actually- in his mind.

 _Aral._

* * *

 ** _Author's note:_**

 ** _Cliffhanger!_**

 ** _I usually don't do these, but it seemed right for this chapter to end like this. I really want to know your opinion and thinking about this chapter, or actually, about the whole story. So please let me know!_**

 ** _I enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it.  
_**

 ** _Thank you,_**

 ** _-Jody_**


	16. Chapter 16: Silver and Crimson Red

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 16: Silver and Crimson Red_

The hot breath in the air was boiling her insides. But still she felt stone cold. Cold and heat. Heat. Dragon.

Sounds were mixing together, not making it clear of what was going on. Her sight was blurry. Somewhere in the distant she heard her name, but she paid it no mind.

 _The heat._

It was all she could think about. Damnation was upon them all. They had been stupid, not paying attention to their surroundings. She was still frozen on the spot. A big spot of crimson red was infront of her. Colours were flashing around her. Her heart was beating fast and her breath quivered.

'Aral!' In the distant.

She noticed she got pulled back, back to the protective barrier. But somehow she felt something was wrong. Wrong. The magic around her was overwhelming. She couldn't tell it apart. A wave of magic broke her thoughts, she had crossed the barrier. Everything happened in slow motion. Her head tilled so slowly she thoughts she would never see his face. Charlie's face. The only thing her eyes could focus on were his eyes, the dark grey depth she felt like falling into. She frowned.

'Char-'

'Aral, God. What the hell?' He cut her off.

She shook her head, his voice was still strange and her ears were pounding, as if too much sound tried to make her listen.

'Aral! What wer...' But his voice faded away. For a moment she thought he had stopped talking, but his lips were still moving. But there were still sounds around her. Strange sounds. What sounds? She noticed she didn't hear anything normal, no screaming voices or people running to savety. Her legs were trembling and weak, as if they were made of cooked spaghetti. She tried to concentrate.

Then a high pitched sound penetrated her ears and she screamed in pain. With both hands she covered her ears. She collapsed to the ground, but before her body hit the ground two strong arms, again, held her up and slowly guided her down to the ground. The sound continued to hurt her and made her sight even more blurry and her head ache. She whimpered in pain. Then, just like the normal sounds had left her, her feelings left her. She didn't feel the heat anymore, nor did she feel cold. The feeling she did have was hard to explain, but you could picture it as a dark room, you float in the air. Everything is pitch black, except for a small shimmer far away. But it grows and grows, it feels save. She felt its savety and control. But she knew that feeling and she dreaded it.

 _No._

 _Not this!_

 _Please don't make me go back!_

 _Please, not now!_

 _I could kill them! All of them!_

She mentally screamed in agony.

 _Or you could save them._

Save them. Could she? She felt like she was fading away, but then something pulled her back. A voice.

'Aral!'

Slowly she felt something again. Longing. But she seemed to be in a trance, or a sleep. And she didn't know how to wake up.

'Aral! Come back please!'

More voices returned to her and she could make sentences.

'Charlie, boy! You need to run!'

'I can't leave her!'

There was silence, she could feel the tension. But the feeling quickly got pushed away by a sharp pain in her hands. Her hands were shaking, heavily.

'Aral, I can't leave you here. It was all my fault.'

'Charlie, now! There's no time!'

Her breathing was quickening again and her heart pounding heavily in her chest. Another sound came. And another feeling. A tear.

One tear fell on top of her cheek and her eyes flung open. She took one deep breath and her body pulled up in one movement. Charlie froze and stared at her. She saw colours. Colours divided all sound and feeling. Sense and magic in colours! The barrier. It was but a mere weak shimmer compared to the crimson red dragon behind it. It won't hold.

'It won't hold.'

She muttered under her breath. Her eyes staring at the danger before her.

'It won't hold.' Charlie understood.

Time slowed when she got up onto her feet. The yellow eyes gazed dangerously into hers. Others would have said the dragon was angry or infuriated, but she felt something different. She saw something different behind its small and narrowed eyes.

Maternity.

The fear of a lost child. The killing feeling of losing.

There was shouting behind her and she did not need to look around to know that a whole lot of new dragon tamers had joined them. Stunning spells flew passed her and she saw the dragon in pain. She felt the pain, like a connection. She felt its pain and the emotions of the people surrounding her. She felt their racing heart beats and aching muscles. She felt Charlie's heart, confusion, shock and adrenaline flowing through his veins. The stunning spells did not work. And she could feel the hopelesness behind her grow.

'How the hell did a Chinese Fireball get here?'

Chinese Fireball. Fireball, Fire.

A large blast of fire came soaring in their way, although the barrier was able to hold most of the fire, it was terribly weakend. One more blast and it would break.

'We need to get to the second barrier!' A voice roared.

Charlie was pulling at her again, while shooting as many stunning spells as he could at the dragon. But Aral stopped, she pulled away from his grasp and turned back to face the dragon.

'Aral, what the hell are you doing? Did you loose your mind?!'

But she didn't hear him anymore. Others screamed at her too, yelling she had to come back and run for her life.

'The second won't hold either.' She screamed without looking.

Some stopped stunning and running, turned and could only stare at the mad witch in front of the infuriated dragon.

Fire dragon. Some said dragons were the strongest species on earth, and were invincible. But everything and everyone has a weakness. She knew this in her heart and she knew she was the only thing between the dragon and death. The opposite of fire is... Water. And almost everything contained water. She was so scared. Not scared of the dragon. Scared of herself, what she might do and of what could go wrong if she lost control.

'I'm scared, Charlie.' She said.

But he didn't hear her, he was too busy with everything else. She turned her head to look at him and she saw him covered in bruises and blood. Something inside her snapped. She didn't want to see anyone else hurt. Not today! She was back in the dark room again and hesitant she moved towards the shimmer, then she thrust herself in it. Taking back the control and the darkness. Her eyes clenched shut she took another step forward. Then the inevitable pain came back and made her scream and she almost fell down again, but she held her ground and after a moment she straightened her back. The barrier was about to break and she could feel the hot breath from the dragons nostrils burn her skin. She heard its rough breathing and roaring battle cries. Once again they screamed at her, but she ignored them all.

'ARAL! NO!'

Charlie. She turned her head, but didn't take her eyes off of the yellow ones, which were staring back directly at her.

'Run!' She yelled.

They all froze. And everyone gasped at what followed next.

Aral felt all the magic around her and could feel the colours of the wind, hear the earth crumble beneath their feet and she could feel the water in the earth. There was so much water around them, but they were blinded. She raised her hands and pulled at the water. Like magnets, droplets of water pulled form the earth and condensed from the air. The big lake on the reserve was too far to reach, but she was still able to feel all of it, the cool water and streams. The dragon stopped and froze, watching the witch infront of her.

The droplets floated in the air like small, smooth diamonds. But everything that happened on the inside of Aral didn't feel smooth or pretty like diamonds. Sharp knives stabbed her and fire burned her insides, she felt the scars all over her body reopen and wanted to scream. Horrible memories came pouring back, but she forced herself to concentrate on one thing and one thing only. She closed her eyes and concentrated with all the energy she had left. Her hands trembled under the pressure and she moved them in one circle. The water, which had floated all around them, formed a stream and swirled in the air. she guided the stream with her hands. The dragon responded with a roar, and prepared to attack, it had waited long enough now. With another blast of fire the barrier broke and a wave of magic shook the earth and some people fell down.

The water moved in a spiral up in the air. The dragon moved towards her and spread its wings, showing of its size. There was now no barrier left to protect her. She swallowed and she opened her eyes. The golden colour flashed in the sun and the dragon tilted its head, confused. Aral bent her fingers and the water split in different forms. Magic rushed through her and in the air, filling everthing and everyone with the power she possessed. She forgot the people behind her, she forgot Charlie who was still standing several feet behind her and she forgot her fears. One corner of her mouth curled up into a smirk. She felt the control flowing in her veins and the power amplifying. The dragon went into a trance and this was her chance, with the speed of lighting she shot her hand through the air and the water obeyed. The streams circled around the dragon and it staggered back. Fire dragons, obviously, hated water. The circles tightened and the dragon was chaining the dragon, burning its tough scales. It panicked and Aral kept tightening the circles.

Charlie had slowly stepped forwards and looked into her eyes. She didn't notice him, her focus was on the suffering of the dragon, her face emotionless and her hear wild. He saw her eyes glowing gold and his breath quivered. But slowly something happened in her eyes. From the centre a dark colour started to overflow the gold, it was pitch black. He somehow knew what this meant. It meant she wasn't able to hold her power in control for much longer. The dragon roared in pain. He quickly turned and his eyes and he froze yet again when his gaze fell on the dragon in pain. He shut his eyes and thought.

 _No, this isn't her. She wouldn't want to hurt the dragon._

He had to do something. He turned back to her and he noticed she was shaking and tears were pouring from her eyes, her pitch black eyes. He then noticed he was shaking too. He was able to feel the magic radiating from Aral like everyone else. The power was flowing through them all and it was overwhelming and making him dizzy. Another roar from the dragon pulled him out of his thoughts and back into the terrbibly dangerous situation. He staggered forward and stood infront of Aral, but her eyes didn't see him. They just stared right through him at the dragon. He noticed the glint in her eyes, but he knew he had to act quickly and get her back. Back to him and reality.

A deafening sound came from behind him. He looked over Aral's shoulder at the others. They were afraid and confused. Their wands trembling in their hands and adrenaline in their blood. Their widened eyes were all staring at the witch. Another deafening roar reached his ears, but this time it wasn't from the dragon. No, it had come from Aral. Tears were dripping down from her cheeks and her face contorted in pain.

She started muttering words, as if she wasn't really there.

'Please. Please, no. I will do anything! Anything!'

She was reliving a memory.

'Please, don't hurt me.'

Charlie didn't know what to do and everything was overwhelming him. There were too many sounds, from the roaring dragon in pain to Aral's muttering, and too many things that he didn't understand. Her face darkened and her eyes more hollow, her already thin face becoming more gaunt in a matter of seconds.

'Kill me!' She hysterically screamed.

'Kill me!' She repeated between her cries.

She wasn't here at all. She wasn't knowingly hurting the dragon. Charlie's heart sank at her words, he felt so sorry for her. What happened next scared him even more; Aral tilted her head up and looked straight into his eyes.

'Kill me...' She whispered. At the same time a roar errupted from the dragon. Charlie couldn't stand it anymore and he grapped Aral by her shoulders. But apparently she had no strenght left and she dropped to the ground. He picked her up and looked over his shoulder. The once very dangerous and hostile dragon had staggered back and fear was the only thing he saw in its eyes. He felt sorry for it. Once Aral had dropped to the ground the water had fallen from the air and on the grass, mingling with the earth as if it had never stirred. But before anyone was able to contain the dragon it spread its wings and quickly flew over the hills and beyond the boarders of the reserve, out of their reach.

Charlie's only concern now was the weak form of Aral in his arms, she felt so light and fragile. He was breathing heavily as the overwhelming magic slipped away from him and the power radiating from Aral weakened. He sprinted back to the top of the hill and crossed the barrier. He didn't look back at anyone else and didn't respond to their calls. She needed the hospital, he feared for her condition. He didn't understand anything that was happening to her, but he was able to quess that whatever it was it wasn't good. He was almost at the entrance and he glanced down at her. Her eyes were staring at the bright blue sky and his breath caught in his throat. He kept running as fast as he could.

Aral was looking at the blue sky, but her mind was clouded and dark. Her cheek rested on a solid chest and she could hear his heart. She knew she was slipping away and the last thing she saw were two dark grey eyes. Grey eyes. Not silver, but dark grey. A memory crossed her mind and filled her thoughts. A memory of silver eyes and pain. Silver had been her salvation in the dark. Her eyes closed in exhaustion and she heard Charlie call her name once again. The only thing she was able to do at the last moment was breath a word.

 _Silver._

'Malfoy.'


	17. Chapter 17: Missing

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 17: Missing_

* * *

 **IMPORTANT** **Author's note:**

 **This scene happens at the same time as the last chapter.**

* * *

'Missing person? You reported her as a MISSING PERSON?'

Draco Malfoy stormed into Harry's office, holding up a file and dropping it on his desk with a thud.

'Oh, Malfoy. By all means do come in. Is 'Knocking' not in your dictionary?'

Harry rubbed his tired eyes and sighed. Long day at work, finally time to go home and now this. All he wanted was going home to Grimmauld Place and and collapse on his bed.

'When it's urgent I don't do formalities, Potter.' Draco hissed.

Harry looked at the angry slytherin and closed his eyes for a moment. He somehow had suspected Malfoy to barge into his office one day complaining about something, although he did not think it would be about... Aral. About Aral. He raised his wand, which felt terribly heavy, and conjured a chair. With his hand he indicated for Malfoy to sit down.

Malfoy sat down in one elegant move and straightened his back, not once breaking contact with the tired, green eyes. Draco was tired also and his skin just as pale. His all black suit was neat and surprisingly wrinkle-free, considering he just came barging in.

'I understand that you miss her and that you want to find her, but clearly she doesn't want to be found.'

'Oh do you understand? Did you loose a sister? A piece of your family, the only real family you had?'

Draco's face hardened. When he came to confront Harry he hadn't intended to start a war, like they usually did when they were younger. Harry noticed his jaw clenched and he felt a bit guilty.

'I understand perfectly well.' Draco managed to get out through gritted teeth.

He didn't say anything further on the matter and he didn't have to. Harry knew his situation; his family was currently facing the consequences of years and years being a follower of the dark lord and being blood prejudiced. Though Narcissa Malfoy kept her family from being imprisoned by saving Harry and lying to the dark lord himself, the trouble kept finding them. There were still enormous groups of wizards and witches who's families had been tortured and even killed, surpressed and hated by them. You'd think that after a war everyone had seen enough death, but they are blinded with hatred and loss. Narcissa and Lucius have been transferred to a temporary save location and Draco was left. All alone. He wasn't hated as much as his parents and his trial had been swift and he had managed to get off with no punishment. He was now probably the only resident in Malfoy Manor and left alone to run the entire estate. Upon seeing the Malfoy family ring on Draco's finger he confirmed his suspicions. No wonder he looked like a ghost.

 _Although_ , Harry thought, _I probably don't look any better._

'Harry,' Saying his name sounded weird, to both of them.

But he did not know how to speak further and his lips didn't move.

Harry turned his head and faced the window. After thinking hard for a moment he bent down and opened a drawer. In his hands he held a thick package of bound letters, from Aral. He dropped them on top of the file Draco had earlier throwed on top of his papers.

'These are letters. From Aral. Although I don't even know if they are from her for certrain.'

Saying her name was hard. Almost like he spoke of the dead.

 _No!_

 _She's not dead!_

 _She's strong._

 _Merlin's beard, Harry._

 _Don't think like that._

He closed his eyes again, trying to get rid off the horrible thoughts that had crossed his mind. But it didn't help. He opened his eyes again when Malfoy spoke.

'I know. I've received them also.'

Harry frowned.

'You too?'

Malfoy nodded. Harry wanted to press on, but Malfoy quickly cut him off and steered him back to the point.

'She has sent us letters telling us she's alright, she's not missing. Then why, Potter. Why report her?'

Harry sighed again. Why did Malfoy have to interfere? He leaned with his elbows on the desk and head in his hands. A horrible head ache coming up again.

'She has sent us prove that she is alive! Is that not enough for you?'

'Is it for you?' Harry shot back, pulling his head up and looking straight into the silver eyes.

Draco wasn't prepared for this question and his eyes widened slightly. Harry had surprised him and he now sat there frozen, not being able to say a word; out of character. He quickly shook it off and straightened up again.

'This is not about me.'

Harry snorted.

'I thought everything was about you.' He sneered.

'I did not come here to bicker, Potter.' Draco snapped.

Harry knew he was right, although he hated to admit it.

'It's just... she must be out there somewhere. And I don't understand why she won't come back, come back to her family.'

He shook his head. He continued when Draco didn't interupt him.

'We all know she has had to endure dark times,-'

Draco snorted.

'-but that doesn't mean she had to run away and leave-' His voice broke.

'And leave _me_ behind.'

It came out as a cry and he hid his face in his hands. Draco did not move. The sight before him pained him very much, although Harry would never believe it if he said so.

'Even you,' His head shut up.

'Even you said she wouldn't stay away this long.' His eyes were swimming with tears, but he fought them back.

Harry didn't want to cry in front of someone he had hated almost his whole life and only recently had come to terms with. He was broken in milions of pieces.

'You said,' he coughed to get his voice back. 'you said you would help me find her if I wanted your help.'

'If that's your way of asking for my help...' Draco quirked a brow.

'Will you help me?' Harry asked. 'Please.'

The please was hard for him to say out loud. In the war he had understood -though also not easily- that he had needed help, he was young and the war was... a war. But now he was of age and an auror! How come he was not able to find his own sister? He felt so hopeless, lifeless.

Draco looked him in the eyes and nodded.

'Of course.'

They both had changed. And they both shared this unspoken understanding.

Draco stood up and Harry followed. Harry extended his arm across the desk.

'A truce?'

'For Aral's sake.' Draco said and firmly shook his hand.

Draco stiffly turned around and walked towards the door. Before he could walk out Harry called out to him.

'Malfoy?'

He turned to look at Harry.

'You really care for her, don't you.'

Draco avoided Harry's eyes and looked at the wall behind him instead.

'In that summer, I...' He paused for a moment.

Needing a minute to pick his words and form his sentences. Harry waited patiently.

'I was the only one there to care for her, and to heal her wounds. And she was the only one who wasn't disappointed in me. Besides my mother.'

This confession shocked Harry. And Draco quickly turned and left before Harry could say anything.

* * *

Back at Malfoy Manor, Draco slammed the door shut and the bang echoed through the hollow house. With big steps he stalked to the staircase and went up to his room. He was still filled with rage and sadness, therefore he didn't notice the small house elf peeking around the corner in the hallway. Its big eyes and hanging ears disappeared around the corner and silently it returned to the lady in the house. Draco's face was hardened and he splashed some water in his face. He took off his clothes and threw them on the ground. He muttered angrily under his breath.

 _Potter only thinking about himself!_

 _Was he?_

 _'she had to endure dark times'_

 _Dark times?_

 _Pitch black with no the-boy-who-lived around to save her!_

 _the-boy-who-lived my ass_

 _the-boy-who-left-her-to-die sounds more like it_

 _But she didn't die_

He sighed and he rubbed his face.

The squeaking noise from his door alarmed him and he quickly turned around. His face softened when he saw his mother.

'Mother.' His voice with a tone of surprise.

'It's not save for you to be here.'

She walked into his room and spread her arms. He embraced her and calmed down a bit.

'I know, but I just wanted to see my boy. What has made you upset? Not work I believe.'

'Well, technically it happened at work, but...'

Narcissa sat down on his bed and pulled him down to sit next to her. Again he sighed.

'Potter.'

She nodded at him, but then frowned again.

'I thought you two had made peace?'

When he didn't say anything, she took a hold of his hand.

'I see, you mean the other.'

He nodded.

'Any news on where she is?'

'No, and that is just the thing. Potter -Harry- has reported her missing, though not publicly so the press won't know, but still he wants to find her.'

'Don't you?'

 _How come everyone knew what he wanted?_ Malfoy complained.

'Yes, mother. But she doesn't want to be found and he's acting like she's abducted or worse.'

 _Dead._

Though the word hung in the air he did not dare to say it.

His mother again hugged him, but now didn't let go.

 _Grown up hugging his mother._ Malfoy sneered at himself.

Finally she let go of him.

'I didn't want to show you actually. But you are bound to find out sooner or later.'

She showed him the paper she had been carrying apparently. It was the daily prophet.

'This article showed up this morning.'

Draco took it from her hands and read the whole thing. When he had reached the end he threw it against a wall, disgusted by it.

'How dare she?!' He exclaimed.

He wanted to stand and furiously stalk around his room, but his mother pulled him back down, surprising him of her strenght.

'You sit down and listen!'

She stood up and with one hand on her hip she picked up the paper.

'I know you care about her and I know she cares about you. You need to find her.'

He wanted to interupt her tell his mother what he had said to Harry over and over again. But she held up her hand and stopped him.

'No, do not interupt me. The girl may have told you she doesn't want to be found. But for once in your life Draco listen to your gut and more importantly your heart.'

Malfoy stayed silent. She did have a point there, he always made choices based on logic. His father had made sure he taught him that. His face grimaced at the thought of his father, but his thoughts got pulled away when his mother bent over and placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

'There is always a way to find the thing you lost.'

With those words spoken she left. He was still sitting on his bed and was rethinking their conversation.

'Always a way.' He muttered.

But his mind was blank and he couldn't think of anything clearly. His mind began to scramble of words and no idea sprang up. He felt tiredness fall over him again and suddenly all he wanted was to sleep for 48 hours straight. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand and groaned when it said it only was 4 pm. Well, he could nap. He laid down and turned untill he found a comfortable position. He closed his eyes and already started to drift away. Finally he was able to sleep.

But no sleep for him that day, or night.

Before he fell asleep, his eyes flew open. An idea had struck him. A part of him was happy he had come up with an idea, an other part of him was screaming because it meant he had to leave is comfortable, warm bed and get up. Before his bed became too comfortable that he wouldn't be able to get up, he jumped out of his bed and pulled on his trousers. Half-way through the door he pulled his shirt over his head and when he made his way down the stairs he accio-ed his shoes, and magic-ed them on. An elf walked up to him and looked at his master with curious eyes.

'I'm going out.'

The elf tilted its head. Draco didn't look at him when he pulled on his coat.

'I don't know for how long. Could be an hour, or a day.'

The elf nodded at him.

'Do you have any other request or chores for us to do, while you are gone, master Malfoy?'

Draco was already making his way over to the door and answered quickly, not wanting to waste anymore time.

'Keep the house clean, as always, and make sure to send my mother a note.'

'What must it say?'

Draco halted in the doorway and turned around to look the elf right into its eyes.

'Thank you, mother.'

With that he left.

* * *

His quick steps echoed through the deserted, stone halls of the ministry. His breathing was steady but hasty.

 _Please, make it work. Please, make it work._

He rounded a corner and saw the door to his office appear, he quickened his steps until he almost ran. Somewhere in his mind he heard the sharp and cold voice of his father.

 _Malfoy's never run, Draco._

But he didn't listen to the voice, he didn't even notice himself thinking it. He was too preoccupied to pay it any attention. The door of his office opened and bounced off on the wall with a loud bang. He didn't care.

 _If my colleagues have a problem, let them leave a comlaint with my supervisor._

He hastened over to the small table next to the fire place and picked up an item.

A necklace.

When he reached for it his hand was shaking. A strange aura came from the dark, green and silver amulet. When his finger touched the chain it burned him and quickly he pulled away. His brow furrowed. This was very strange; never had it been like this or felt like this. He turned his hand and expected to see red burn marks on the tips of his fingers, but there was nothing.

 _It must be charmed pain than._ He figured.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist around the necklace. An unimaginable pain shot through him and he fell down on one knee, one hand clinging to the table and the other still holding the necklace. After a moment the pain weakened and became more bearable. With his eyes closed he focused everything on Aral, making his mind remember who she was. What she smelt like and how she sounded like, how she looked like and how she felt. His eyes shot open, but he couldn't see his office anymore. No, he was in a dark room. Another wave of pain overwhelmed him and he felt like letting go, but if he let go of the necklace, he would let go of Aral and he forced himself to continue this road of pain. The vision changed and he felt heat. He didn't understand why, or where he was. A bright light blinded him and he grunted. The first thing he saw was green and blue, after a moment he realized it was a landscape. But the sight suddenly got blurred again and was filled up with a great red figure. The heat. Draco heard a roar coming from it and he realized what it was. Images flickered by and he felt things he had never felt before. Indescribable things, like colours of magic and elements. A blackness fell over him and then a streak of ginger hair,

 _or was it brown, in the middle maybe?_

He couldn't focus his thoughts and as quick as the images flew by they left again and the pain left him too. He gasped and felt a force pull him back. He was sweating and laying sprawled on the floor of his office. The necklace a few feet away from him. He breathed out a trembling breath and pulled his thoughts back. After a minute it dawned on him what he had just seen and felt. He quickly crawled up and took some flew-powder.

There was no time to loose.

 _Malfoy's never run, Draco._

 _Rules and traditions are made to be broken._


	18. Chapter 18: Awake

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 18: Awake_

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hello everyone,**

 **Pfff, writing this chapter was difficult, I have to admit. All the while I listened to various sorts of film soundtracks, but mostly Hans Zimmer's: no time for caution (which is beautiful by the way). This may explain the dark theme of this chapter.**

 **Yes, this chapter is dark. Very dark. This note is sort of a warning.**

 **You are getting to read a glimps of Aral's dark past and this may clear up some things.**

 **I'm only questioning the measure of this dark past in contrast with how she is now. Maybe the future her is a bit too cheery in contrast to what happens here.**

 **Please review, helps me out a lot. Thank you all for reading, hope you like it!**

 **-Jody**

Pain. Like rats gnawing their way through flesh. Fire biting in your veins and boiling your blood. Being pulled inside out and no hope for salvation left. The harsh wooden flour hurting your knees. Splinters in your skin. And the screams... never ending. It didn't sound like your own voice anymore. You've had become someone else, like you're split and parted from yourself. Memories were summoned into your mind.

You didn't want to look, didn't want to see.

But there was no choice... no choice.

* * *

A soft voice, giggling.

'Harry!'

A pair of green eyes looking at another pair of green. Little screams and panting, they're running. The soft grass surrounding them. Giggling children. Happiness.

A flash and there are extraordinary things happening. Things the Potter siblings found out they could do.

The memories take a leap through time. Landing before an older Harry and Aral. Going to hogsmeade, sometime before they met Sirius Black. Laughing, happy. Step after step through the thick snow, no worry on their minds. Laughing again.

* * *

The sound hurt your ears.

But you couldn't stop the memories. Another scream, filling the room. Your were being tossed around the room, landing against hard wood and cold stone, feeling your body bruise and bleed. But there was no stopping it. Only surviving.

It suddenly stopped and you softly heard someone say they're done with you for today. You couldn't see, feel or hear anything anymore. You could barely smell the disgusting scent of Greyback carrying you back. Dropping you on the ground without care and leaving you alone.

Alone.

All alone.

Broken.

The thumping footsteps of Greyback rithmetic booming through the floor against your ear.

You started humming on the rhythm. Forming a... a lullaby.

 _Lullaby. Lullll-abyy._

You giggle, thinking the word sounds funny. Your neck in a strange crook, but no energy left to lift it.

Green eyes still dancing in front of your eyes like ghost hunting you down. You felt like crying, but also did't. Split. Parted.

Feeling and unfeeling at the same time.

The green fated away and got replaced with grey. Silver.

'Draco.'

A hand landed on your cheek and checked your temperature. Your sight started dancing and became blurry.

'Aral.' Faintly in the distant. But he was so close. So close.

'Stay with me, Aral. Stay with me, keep your eyes open.'

But they were too heavy and you just want to sleep. Sleep.

 _Have I slept? Ever? What does sleep feel like?_

You can't form words properly, but you try telling him anyway.

'No, Aral! You can't sleep now. You won't sleep. You will sleep forever.'

The silver looked so beautiful, why don't more people have eyes like his?

'Forever seems fine with me.' You mutter.

Forever. Such a beautiful word.

Your eyes started to close and it felt like slow motion.

Desperate eyes staring into yours. He was still trying to keep you awake.

 _Why does he even bother..._

You did't want to be awake anymore. Never.

Finally your eyes close.

* * *

With a bang Aral apparated and landed in a muggle street. Abandoned. Her eyes scanned the houses and searched for the right number. Her eyes landed on a small corner house with the number nineteen painted on the door. With swift steps she glided across the street and walked up the porch. In front of the ugly door she halted. She had done this before; rounded up muggles or muggleborns, for information or just for the dark lords pleasure. But right now she wasn't hunting information for the dark lord. No, she was doing this for herself. She needed to do this, she needed to know. She unlocked the door and stepped inside the hall. Her magic surged through her body and she let go of it, letting it inspect the house. It was like her sixth sence, a third hand or extra pair of eyes. Helpfull; she know knew there was one person in the living room -muggle- and one in the kitchen -witch. Her head tilted when she felt a third person. A small person upstairs, sleeping in a bed. The soft snorring entered her ear, but she pushed it away and chose to ignore it. Leaning against the wall next to the door, which let to the living room, she listened to the conversation between the two people who were oblivious of her presence.

'...and a knew vacuum. The old one has given up.'

'This list is growing rather long, Andrew.' The woman spoke from the kitchen.

'Yeah, yeah I know.'

Water was running through the tap and rumbled on the dishes, the woman was cleaning them. After a while the water stopped and the witch took a towel to dry her hands. She walked to the living room with a look on her face. Although Aral could not see the people, she could feel the tension.

'Andrew, you do know...'

The man sighed.

'Yeah, I know, alright. You have to go to see that other... woman.' He didn't want to say the word 'witch'.

He and his wife had talked about it only moths ago, because the situation in the wizarding society had become... dangerous, especially for muggleborns. And their son was nine now, only one year and a half untill he got to go to hogwarts. Though Sara, the witch, didn't know for sure, with everything that was going on at the time. Wizards and witches disappearing and people starting to flee, the ministry tried to hush everything and keep order, but chaos was looming around seeking its chance to pop out and start, shake people up. And on the controling end of chaos was the danger, Voldemort.

The woman knelt down and took a hold on her husbands hands. They were strong and warm. She squeezed them a little.

'They can give us protection. On our house and such. Protect our son.'

'I just don't understand how that would help. Who would want anything from us?'

'I do.' Aral stepped around the corner and into the light.

Sara reached for her wand and Andrew sprang up. The witch hesitated, but then fired her spells at Aral.

'Stupify. Stupify!'

Aral simply waved her hand and a shield formed around her, blocking each spell. The woman seemed to give up and lowered her wand.

'What are you doing in our house? What do you want? ' Andrew exclaimed, still a bit in shock. He took one step forward and shoved his wife behind him, as if protecting her. Aral mentally laughed at this move, the woman behind him had more chance of defending them than he did, although he was big and had muscles, he would not stand a chance.

'What I want is not something you can give to me, I'm afraid' She answered him cryptically.

'But instead, the only thing I will ask of you some information.'

'Who are you?' The man tried to hide his fear and sound confident, but he failed.

Aral ignored the man, her attention was on the witch. The woman glanced up at the ceiling, where Aral knew her child was. A mother's instict, how lovely.

'A mother's instinct.' The woman's eyes widened and quickly stared at Aral again.

'So lovely. You know, I never had a mother.'

She took a step forward when the two didn't answer, she had their full attention. Good. She picked up a framed picture, which showed a happy family, smiling brightly. Her tumb stroked the small child in its father's arms.

'But she was killed. I was orphaned with my brother at the age of one.' She turned back to the couple and glided passed them to the window. They weren't going to do something she could sense that. Sara was listening intently to her story, wand lowered and Andrew knew he couldn't do anything, he felt powerless, and he was right.

'A- Aral P-Potter?' The woman stuttered.

'Correct. Ten points to... Hufflepuff, am I right?'

Aral said without turning around and looking at the woman. Sara didn't answer her question, but she already knew she was right. She looked down at her hands and pulled her sleeves further down, almost covering the tips of her fingers too.

'What do you want?' Sara demanded.

'Good question. Information.' Now she turned around and looked her straight in the eyes.

'Because you've crossed paths with the same child who orphaned at age one just a few months before that horrible evening, haven't you?'

The woman swallowed and tears welled up in her eyes. Her husband, Andrew, looked confused.

'What are you talking about? I don't understand, Sara.' He protectively put his arms around his wife.

But she pushed him away and closed her eyes. She let go a shuddering breath and Aral knew she had come to the right person this time.

'Tell me,' She took one slow step forward to the witch. 'what happened before.'

A lone tear rolled down Sara's cheek and she looked up at the, whom she now knew to be, dangerous witch.

'I was working at the ministry's departement of lost wizards and witches.'

She took a deep breath, her heart was pounding fast.

'A woman, had disappeared from her home and had left everything behind. She had no family, not that I knew of and only neighbors and distant friends. They didn't understand why she had left and I was set on the case, just a young new intern, fresh from hogwarts. The whole departement considered it a lost case, that's why they gave it to me. But I found a lead.'

She paused and took another deep breath. Not only Aral, but also Andrew was now listening contently.

'Sixteen days I have searched for her and looked at every lead.'

She turned away from Aral.

'I knew there was something strange going on, but my boss said I had to drop the case...'

Aral felt something inside her.

'So I did.'

She closed her eyes. Clenched her fists untill her knockles turned white.

'After a while I forgot the case.'

Sara's voice was small now.

'After three weeks someone came at my door. A woman. The woman. But she was not alone.'

Aral's eyes opened and she slowly looked up. The other woman turned back now and looked into the green eyes, which were turning black, slowly.

'You look so much like her, except for your-... green eyes.'

Aral didn't know what she felt, or if she even felt anything at all. But her magic started feeling on its own.

'Who was she?'

Sara opened and closed her mouth again.

'I- I can't tell you.'

'You can't tell me?' Her eyes narrowed, tears giving them a dangerous gleam.

'You caN'T TELL ME?! MY MOTHER, WHO WAS SHE!'

Anger fired up inside her and her blood boiled. The blackness took over. The pure hate. The utter loss.

Andrew took a hold of his wife. He knew what was coming. He prepared himself to fight, although he knew he was going to loose anyway.

'Give me a reason why I shouldn't make that child upstairs an orphan too?' She hissed like a snake.

Her expression was so dark and her eyes pitch black, no longer the bright, happy green. The blood of the couple ran cold and they were so afraid. Aral could feel it, she deprived her power from it, their fear radiating from their bodies added to her anger. Her neck twisted up and turned in a half circle, her eyes almost bulging out of her skull. She inhaled deeply while she let the anger and the destructive power flow. All her anger and pain, all of it. The torture and loneliness she had felt. But she had survived. But there was nothing left for her here. Her fingers enclosed around the womans neck and she pushed her against a wall. She took back a little of her control and softened her grip to let the woman breath. Andrew had tried to strike at her, but she had hexed him, now bleeding all over the ugly carpet. He looked so pathetic. The sound of Voldemort echoed through her mind, controlling her. For a second she closed her eyes and breathed, trying to steady her anger.

'There must be some file about her, isn't there? Where is it?'

The woman shook her head.

'WHERE IS IT?' The anger wasn't going to let her have control, Aral knew this. She needed to know.

The woman said nothing, but instead raised her arm and pointed at a wooden desk. Aral glanced at it and saw a drawer.

'Drawer?'

The woman nodded, not able to speak. Tears were streaming down her face like waterfalls and her face puffy. Aral let her go and flew across the room to the desk. The woman behind her fell to the ground and gasped for the air, desperate for live. She grawled to her husband who was covered in blood. But Aral paid them no mind, her attention focused on the drawer.

Her mother.

 _Mother._

Who was it? Slowly she pulled open the drawer which reveiled only one envelope. It contained something heavy and thick. She opened it and first pulled out the thin parchement. The fine creasing, neatly folded. She unfolded the paper and read the first sentence.

Her head started spinning. she read the whole thing. No name, no where.

'No name... Why?'

She spun around.

'WHY IS THERE NO NAME?'

The woman was sobbing loudly, bended over her husband.

'She never had a name. She was a John Doe.' She continued to sob.

Afraid of what the dangerous witch could do to them, or their child.

The paper in Aral's hand lit up in flames and fell to the ground. But then something else fell with a loud thud. The other thing the envelope had contained. Aral reached down and picked it up. Upon seeing it, her hand formed a fist around it and her eyes darkened even more.

The windows flew open and the wind came howling in. Papers flew in the air and the curtains curled with the wind. The burning paper's flames blazed up and spread a dangerous light around the dark place. Aral started to tremble, anger overflowing and feeling lost. What was happening? A very small voice, far away, whispered something.

 _What happened to you?_

A pain built up inside her and it needed to get out. She inhaled deeply and let out an agonysing scream. And fell down to her knees, not able to stand anymore, no energy. What she didn't know or did on purpose, was the green flash of light, not coming from her hands, but from the centre of her heart. The husband and wife still together and holding each other, slumped down to the ground, motionless. Tears were dripping from their eyes, which were still open showing glassy eyes staring into oblivion. The man's eyes were staring at his wife, but the woman's -Sara's- were trained on the ceiling. On her child.

The pain Aral felt was indescribable. No words will ever be able to discribe her pain and guilt. The things she has done consumed her and it is a wonder she is still able to wake up every morning and continue her day.

The wind had stopped and everything was quiet. Terrible silence filled the air. Untill it got broken by the small creak of the staircase in the hall.


	19. Chapter 19: Doctor Weasley

**Black Stained**

 **Author's note:**

 **Hey guys!**

 **I'm terribly sorry for not update the last two weeks. But as always I was busy studying for school and such.**

 **But now I'm back, with more free time and hope to keep up the every-week-a-chapter routine.**

 **I hope you like this chapter.**

 **I'm still afraid some pieces of the story don't ad up or fit in, but if you notice any mistake or plot hole, please notify me so I can fix it.**

 **Have fun reading!**

 **-Jody**

* * *

 _Chapter 19: Doctor... Weasley_

After some hours of chaos and noise, there was now only silence. They say sounds can help recall memories, happy ones and also negative ones. But for her it was the opposite, it was the silence. Making her remember a silent room, no shuffling in the backround, no water dripping. Not even the wind, it had laid down and seemed to have held its breath in a magical way. It had only returned when the staircase had creaked. And it had broken the frozen moment, had returned her to reality. She had tried to believe it was all a lie, an illusion... But there it was, on the staircase. The proof it all was real and it had all happened. And the sharp edges of the necklace were jamming into the palm of her hand, blood dripping on the floor, forming small pools of dark red.

Another creak awakened her. Her eyes shot open and she blinked at the light right above her. She turned her head and vague and blurry shapes formed in front of her eyes. Disorientated she turned her head to the other side. A sharp pain shot through her head, she couldn't help but wince. Her ear started ringing, but it slowly decreased and fell silent again. With her hands she inspected her surroundings. She was lying in a bed with soft, thin sheats. she let out a shuddering breath, and blinked again. Black spots danced infront of her, but they slowly started to disappear. Her breathing slowed and she calmed down. With her elbows she pushed herself up on the uncomfortable bed. Rubbing her neck she looked around. Her eyes immediately fell on the man in a chair next to her bed. Charlie seemed to be asleep, his eyes closed and his head hanging down in a position Aral imagined to cause pain in his neck later. But she let him be. When she saw him she remembered again. Sad, she closed her eyes and let out a cry, folding her arms around herself. What had she done? Why had she come here in the first place? She had trusted Charlie's judgement, she had hoped he was right... But how could he ever be right? How could she ever live in peace and be harmless to anyone? How could she, a monster?

MONSTER.

She let out another cry, but restrained herself from sheading any tears. She raised her arms and moved her feet to check if she could move without pain, and she could. She didn't hesitate for a moment or lingered any longer. Quickly she jumped out of her bed, which had been a mistake; her head started aching again and she saw black spots everywhere. But she decided to ignore them and took another few steps. She felt light headed and could hardly keep her balans. One hand shot to the side of the bed for support. Her quick breaths returned. She looked down at her legs, mentally screaming at them for not working properly anymore. To her surprise she saw some sort of white/ light blue dress wrapped around her body. She felt uncomfortable in it. She always hated wearing dresses, too airy and she could never move in them properly. Her eyes immediately scanned the rest of her body, she let out a shuddering breath when she found out her arms were being covered by the rather ugly fabric. But someone must have dressed her... He or she must have seen it, the mark. She closed her eyes again, and shook her head. It was at the moment the least of her worries. Let them find out, let them hate her, let them. She glanced back at Charlie for a moment, and she realized how destructive she was. How her power could probably destroy everything at a touch. She had made promises she was never able to keep. He looked so peaceful in the uncomfortable wooden chair. Asleep with no worry-lines on his forehead, or piercing grey eyes. In these moments she really needed a friend, her friend, with the silver eyes. But he wasn't there, he couldn't help her. Her head turned around and she looked directly into her own eyes, a mirror reflecting her miserable appearance. But then something strange happened. Her reflection started to move, but she didn't, she stood there completely frozen while her reflection moved forward and stretched out one hand. Her eyes widened when the tips of her reflection's fingers started to bulge out of the flat mirror, as if the mirror was melting her form out of the glass and metal. After the fingers the rest of her hand reached through and an elbow, shoulder, head, foot, leg, everything started to form. She couldn't breath, her breath caught in her throat. The silver glass form tilted its head up and looked at her with cold eyes.

'Aral.'

'Aral?' She stated back at the -was it her reflection or was it the mirror... or had she gone mad and was this all happening inside of her head?- strange form.

It was an exact duplicate of her, but not made out of flesh and blood, but glass and metal. She now moved again and took a tottering step forward, towards the -thing? Her? This was getting quite confusing...- thing.

'Are you me?' She asked, confused.

But it didn't answer her. Her cold eyes still piercing her slightly parted ones.

'Leave.'

'What are you? Have I gone mad?'

'You. Must. Leave. Now.' Every word was pronounced expressively.

The words echoed through the room and they seemed to cut Aral. The cold pained her.

'It is in everyone's best interest if you leave, immediately. For you, the reserve and Charlie.'

It took a few steps towards Aral, now only a few feet away. Aral had closed her eyes, confused, angry and feeling remorse, sadness. It was right she should leave.

'Think of your brother Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Fred, Ron and everyone else.'

'Can I never be happy? Not even here?' She closed her eyes. Knowing she had to leave.

It took one last step and placed each hand and a side of Aral's pale and thin face. With the strength and speed she moved, Aral received a slap on both sides and her eyes shot open, shocked by the sudden pain. The cold glass and metal eyes in front of her, piercing right through her.

'LEAVE.' A booming voice echoed through her head again. And she clapsed her head with both hands, eyes squeezed shut.

An agonizing scream left her lips and filled the chilling air. It didn't sound long. Aral's eyes shot open and the form had disappeared, she was alone again. No, not alone... Charlie! She turned around and saw him, still in his chair. He hadn't stirred at her scream. She frowned, hadn't she screamed pretty loudly just now? Or had she really gone mad and was everything happening inside of her head? She shook her head again. This all felt too real to be fake. Her eyes fell on the heavy wooden door at the side of the room, just six beds away from her. Leave.

She had to leave now. This place had been her last hope, her last shot at happiness and it hadn't worked out. Happiness isn't for the evil. The head aches and spots hadn't appeared anymore, and she decided herself to be fit enough to travel. She had to leave now. Slowly she walked over to the door, as if once she had exited this room she would never be able to go back. But before she reached the door she froze yet again. Her head turned towards a bed. She thought her bed was the only one occupied, but there seemed to be another person in the room. She walked over to the side of the bed. Her breath caught in her throat. The man was injured so badly her heart beat quickened again and her hand shot up to her mouth, covering a shriek. Had she done this? Had she caused this? Tears welled up in her eyes and her stomach turned. She wanted to run away. She wanted to...

'Aral?'

The voice startled her and she hastly turned around with a shriek. A pair of dark grey eyes met her green ones. The tears, welled up in her eyes, almost rolled down her cheeks.

Charlie crossed the room and spread his arms, as if wanting to embrace her. But before he could she took a few steps backwards. He frowned.

'Aral?'

'No.'

He sighed. His tired eyes blinked a few times and he let his arms fall to his sides.

She struggled to find her words.

'Did I- did I do this?' With a trembling hand she pointed at the heavily injured man, unconsiously in his bed.

Charlie only shook his head.

'No, you have nothing to do with his injuries.'

She wrapped her arms around herself, staring at the ground. In the back of her head, the glass and metal screamed at her again.

LEAVE

When he was sleeping, it had been easy to pass him and leave him. But now he was awake and his presence and pleading eyes locked her in the room, not wanting to leave.

He stretched out a hand.

'Come. You should go back to bed.'

'No.' It seemed to be the only thing she was able to say then.

He sighed again.

'Aral, please, you need rest.'

She turned back around, facing the man in bed. She didn't want to look at him either and therefore closed her eyes.

'I don't need _rest.'_

'Than what do you need?'

She heard him approach her slowly.

'I' She lifted her head. 'need to leave.'

'Leave?' His voice was steady and cold, but there was a faint layer of anger underneath. Anger? He had never been angry, not towards her at least.

She turned around and faced him. She almost came nose to nose with him, he had come very close to her.

'Yes.' She took another step towards the door before he could say anything again to stop her, because she knew that if he kept talking and kept urging her to stay, she wouldn't even be able to take one step out of that door. But instead of speaking any words he grabbed hold of her wrist. The movement froze her for only a second.

'Charlie.' Her voice wasn't trembling, it was firm. Determination radiating from her.

'You have to let me go.' She tried to pull away but his grip was too strong.

He pulled her towards him, away from the door.

'No.'

She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off.

'Because it means you are running again.' He shook his head. 'And what Gryffindor runs from her problems?'

The disbelief in his words was loud and clear.

'One that doesn't belong in Gryffindor at all. A monster.' She spoke.

When the last word fell from her lips he loosened his grip and finally let her go. She snorted.

'I don't belong here and I should never have come.'

She avoided his eyes and for the last time turned towards the door. Her hand reached for the door handle and her fingers slowly closed around the knob. Finally she was leaving.

 _Running away._

The words echoed judging through her head.

 _Such a great Gryffindor you are._ She retorted to herself.

She let go a shuddering breath, and filled her lungs with a fresh amount of the cold air of the room. Maybe the bed and blanket weren't that bad, after all. Her hand twisted and the lock clikked open.

'Wait!'

Mentally sighing, she froze in her movement. Again. A part of her was irritated by the fact he didn't let her go, and another part was... what was it? Relieved? She didn't turn around, though she knew he took a step towards her again. Why did he have to stand so close to her all the time? Did he know he smelled amazing and had to show off his bisceps-

 _Focus._ She growled to herself, mentally punishing herself for wandering off like that.

She felt and heard his steady breathing on her neck, prickling and taunting her.

'Where will you go?'

Charlie, somehow again, managed to surprise her. No arguement, no words forcing her to stay. He didn't judge her on her going on the run, not out loud any way.

 _But where will you go?_

Where could she go? No home, no job. Could she move back to her appartment?

She started to doubt everything and wasn't sure anymore what to do. She sighed. Bloody, Charlie.

 _One simple question and I already start to doubt everything._

'Away.' She sattled for that.

'Anywhere you can be happy?'

'Happy?' She snorted. 'People like me don't get to be happy.'

'People like you?'

They still weren't facing each other. Her hand still on the door knob, though the strenght of her grip started to fade, her focus on other matters. Matter, actually. Charlie. Because it stayed silent, her mind slowly and unconsiously started to wander back to his scent and muscles. Back in the chair, his arms had been crossed around his chest they had been bulging-

 _Focus!_

 _What was his question again?_

Trying to pull her thoughts back together, Charlie slowly put one hand on her shoulder and turned her around.

 _His eyes._

Merlin, those pretty things looking at her.

She didn't want to answer any questions anymore. Just stand there and forget everything, her problems, her life. Everything except... Charlie. She sighed again. When she didn't say anything he quirked a brow, urging her to answer.

'I know you once told me you weren't ready to share, but Aral, there's no other option. I can't help you unless you talk to me.'

'Well, maybe I don't want your help.' But they both knew it was a lie.

Now it was his time to sigh. He crossed his arms and Aral granted herself a quick glance before focusing back on his eyes again, a soft pink blush on her cheeks.

'How about this; we compromise.'

Aral frowned, obviously not quite getting the idea.

'We both know that if you really wanted to leave you would have done it already, but you haven't which means you really don't want to. So you go back to your bed and open up a bit, I will listen and then, only then, you may leave if you still want.'

He was leaning towards her and using his height to try to intimidate her. Intimidating; no. Appearing like a huge bear; yes.

She pursed her lips, not wanting to give in, but also really wanting to give in. She grunted and let go of the doorknob. Once she was back in bed she realized how cold she was, and she suddenly became very aware of what she had been dressed in. A dress, yikes. While she wrapped her self into a burrito with her blanket she took the time to inspect Charlie. He looked very tired, still dressed in what he was wearing the last time she saw him, which was when-

She almost killed a powerful dragon and put everyone in danger. That time. Great time that was.

He handed her a glass of water, though she didn't really know why. But she was thirsty... could he read minds too?

She tried to bury her guilt and sorrow by covering everything in a thick layer of sarcasm, it works for a while, but just shortly; the feelings always come back, like knives.

'So, you want me to... open up, Dr. Phil?'

'Doctor Who?'

She choked on her drink and coughed loudly, trying to get some air. She had to laugh too, which made her look pretty strange.

 _Strange._

 _Doctor Strange._

Another wave of laughter overflowed her. Charlie just sat there, with absolutly no clue of what was happening.

'I'm sorry... Muggle jokes.'

He moved in his seat untill he had found a comfortable position, which -to Aral- seemed to be impossible in that wooden chair. His spread his hands in a 'go-on' gesture.

So she started talking. A lot.


	20. Chapter 20: Boys

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 20: Boys_

* * *

'Wait. So you just ran errands?'

Charlie asked confused.

'Well, kind of.' Aral thought hard for a second.

'No, it's more like- like-, okay fine; I ran errands.'

Charlie's frown only deepened as he tried to understand her story.

'This was when...?'

She took a large sip of water.

'Almost at the end of august.'

She put her glass down next to her and sighed. She hadn't gotten to the real difficult part yet, which was before that time.

The inevitable question started to thicken the air around them. Charlie eventually dared to speak the words.

'What happened before?'

His eyes were trained on her and she looked back, trying to keep her face in a emotionless mask, but cracks started to appear. She was breaking down a wall she had built for years now and it was so hard for her. So hard. She was scared, though she would never admit it, that he wouldn't have any kindness left when she had exposed herself to him, her true self. But she had to, it was either opening up or... or she would have had to leave and never return, never see her familiy. Untill now she had only been extending a break, but now she had no choice anymore.

She stared back into his eyes and just for a moment they turned silver grey, instead of the deep dark grey they were.

'Everything.'

They didn't move nor talk for several minutes, just waiting.

'Charlie?'

'Yes?'

'Did you... cry?'

He repositioned himself and bended forward.

'When?'

'When you carried me. From the field, I mean.'

Charlie frowned and shook his head.

'No, I didn't. Why?'

'I just...'

She trailed off, her hand reaching up and the tips of her fingers gracing her cheek, where she had felt that one tear.

'I guess it must have been a...'

'Memory?' He guessed.

'Yes.' She put her hand down and started to pull on her blanket, trying to keep in the warmth.

'A promise.' She muttered.

'Might I know what kind of a promise?'

She avoided his stare and concentrated on the mirror instead. Which broad up questions like; was it really a mirror; had she really seen it or had it been in her mind? She turned her head upwards and banned the thoughts from her mind.

 _Not the right time._

'On the day of Fred's funeral I was...' She closed her eyes while she spoke those words and that name, it was still hard for her.

'I was scared and weak. I lived in a blank appartment, had a simple job, never visited anyone. I was just hollow, there was nothing on the inside of me. And yet I was filled with secrets and lies.'

She took a deep breath.

 _Just spit it out._

'I promised him to be happy, that I would find happiness again.'

She looked up at Charlie, who resembled Fred more at the moment than she would have ever thought.

'But I screwed up. I messed everything up, again.'

Her expression was blank and her skin pale, her sad eyes locked onto his.

'You found happiness here, didn't you?'

'Yes.'

'You think that this one accident with a dragon screwed it all up? Trust me; these 'accidents' happen quite a lot.'

He argued, he obviously was trying to make her feel better. Though it didn't really help. She snorted at his comment.

'Well, they didn't end up with such destruction did they?'

He stayed quiet.

'Wait, what did I do actually? I mean, what's the damage?'

She dreaded she asked. He sighed. She bended forward and touched his hand, as if forcing him to speak by touch.

'Charlie, what did I do?'

After a moment of contemplating he answered her.

'After your 'battle' with the dragon it flew away. The other dragons from the hills kept their distance, they were pretty shaken last time they were checked. The powers you used seemed to have surged through the earth, no where else to go.'

He paused for a moment, letting the information sink in. Her expression was still blank, but he knew that underneath her mask she must have been screaming and grimacing.

'A little earthquake errupted and the entrance and tunnels in the mountains have been destroyed. The fire dragons haven't showed any sign of damage, though they must have felt it. Same goes for the water dragons. The little ones were too far away and probably haven't even felt it, considering their magic is still young and small.'

At the last part about the baby's she let go of a breath she had been holding apparently.

'And the others? The other care takers?'

'No damage at all.'

They have seen what she could do, were probably still talking it through.

'I can't keep this quiet can I? They will talk, stories about me will spread and- and _they_ will find me.'

The idea frightened her and she pulled herself back, leaning against the pillow. It was over. She would be exposed and she would have to face her fears.

'No, I can still fix it. I can make sure they keep it to themselves.'

Charlie took a hold of her hands.

'I can make sure _they_ won't hear anything about you, not untill you are ready.'

Aral looked at him again, she frowned.

'How can you do this? How can you lie to your own family?'

He looked down to the floor and seemed to be trying to form his answer.

'Because I once too wanted to escape my family, I needed to.'

Her curiosity grew, but she didn't have to ask him to tell her more about the matter. He continued.

'I was afraid of all the responsibilities I had as a brother, but I also looked up to Bill. He was smart and succesful, I was the younger little brother. Afraid to fail I did the thing I could do best; rebell and do dangerous things.' He shook his head and she squeezed his hands in encouragement. 'I ran away from them, as much as you are now. Maybe not in the same way, nor for the same reasons, but I'm running too. Nothing can change that fact.'

Him admitting to her that he had been afraid, shocked her. The brave and tough Charlie Weasley had admitted a deep secret.

He had ran away, just like she was now.

And he understood she needed time, to heal and build herself again.

She traced circles on the back of his hand with her thumb.

'Thank you.'

He looked up at her.

'I still don't quite get why you are helping me and why you are this nice to me, but thank you.'

'How could I not be nice to you? You have done nothing wrong to me.'

She looked away again in the mirror. Her pale face reflected by the solid glass. For a moment she imagined it to be melting.

'Let's just say you haven't met all of me.'

With his fingers he turned her hand around, her palm facing the ceilling.

'There are stories... about what you can do.'

He traced the lines with his finger.

'I wonder... Maybe-'

He stopped, deep in thought. Her curiosity couldn't take the silence.

'Maybe what?'

He sighed and turned her hand back around.

'Never mind. It's just that I once read about this spell... It's like a pensieve, it shows someones memories. I thought maybe you could show me some. Memories.'

She pulled her hand back from his. Her head turned away from him. How could he ask this of her? Her most dark and deepest-

'I'm sorry. I just want to understand.' He sounded so sincerely sorry it almost broke her heart.

 _If you had one._

She squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to banish all things that made her want to sink to the ground and cry.

'It's- it's okay.' She managed to get out.

She felt trapped in her bed, under the blanket and between the bars. With a trembling hand she pushed the blanket off of her and swung her legs over the edge, her toes touching the cold stone tiles.

Slowly she walked over to a table on the other side of the room. She was still weak and she wondered what healing spells they had used on her.

On the table there stood a wizard chess game, red and white pieces neatly and presicely placed in their position. Her finger followed the lines on the board and she thought about the memories she could show Charlie, the pure and white ones. And which memories she couldn't, the scarlet red. She had to admit there were more red than white ones to show, but there was a possibility.

Did she dare? To show him?

 _Make him understand you, let him know you to your core._

Would it help? Would the pain stop and leave her to rest at last?

'How does it work?' She asked.

'Well, it works just like normal chess I guess, but-'

'The spell.'

She interupted his babbling, turning around and still holding two pieces, red and white, in her hand. She placed them back and leaned against the chair next to the table. Seeking comfort and support.

His face was all shock and astonishment.

'Lost your tong?'

She teased. Humor covering her fear, like she was used to.

The baffled expression on his face disappeared and he swallowed.

'You want to do it? Share your memories with me?'

'Asking how something works doesn't mean I will use it.'

They both knew her answer could be translated to a simple 'yes'. But she didn't like to concede that easily. He sighed.

'We'll need water, a rope and paper.'

'What's the chant?'

Instead of giving an answer he pulled out a paper from his jacket and stood up.

'No one really knows.' He gave it to her.

She unfolded it and read it through.

'It says that-' He started.

But she cut him off.

'I can read runes, Charlie.' She added a quick 'Sorry,' for being a bit blunt. He didn't seem to mind.

'We're going to look ridiculous.' She stated with a blank voice.

He laughed softly. 'I guess we have to save the pretty things for later.'

She took a few steps back to her bed, but then halted, pain suddenly overflowing her.

'Seriously, what have they done to me? I still feel pain and it hurts like a bitch.'

She refrainded herself from cursing out loud. He quickly responded and supported her by making her lean on him. He then shuffled to the bed and lifted her up and laid her down on it.

'Well, they actually haven't done anything.'

She frowned.

'When they tried to use spells on you it seemed like your body was rejecting the treatment and it shot through the air. Almost hit a nurse.' He chuckled, but quickly stopped seeing her become paler.

'Who dressed me?' She glanced down at her forearm, looking at the fabric, which was still conceilling the dark mark. He understood why she asked.

'A nurse I trust. She won't say anything.'

'Thank you.'

'Do I need to remind you of your promise?'

For a moment she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but then she remembered the moment that happened under the tree at the Burrow.

'S-' She bit her lip, she was about to say sorry. Why can't she stop it?

He laughed at her grumpy face.

'Do you want me to treat you?'

'Yes. If it will reduce the pain than please.'

He took out his wand and he warned her. 'This might sting.'

She looked up to the mirror, bracing herself. He was about to cast the spell.

'Wait!'

'What?'

'If I want to do that spell and it requires a lot of... power. I will need some practice. I don't want to lose control, again.'

He nodded and pulled his wand back. He leaned over to another chair, where her clothes were laying on, and took her wand out of her jacket.

'Here.' He stretched his arm, her wand in his hand. She didn't touch it however or reached for it.

'What else do those stories tell you about me?'

He waited before answering, confused.

'That you have powers no one else has ever had.'

It sounded like a praise and she didn't like it. She snorted at his answer and pulled a face of disgust.

'The stories make me sound like I'm an amazing witch.' She pulled her sleeves further down, though they were too short to cover all of her arms.

'I know you don't see it that way, but you have to admit you are different than most.'

She didn't say anything and didn't look at him. Realisation dawned on him.

'You don't need a wand.'

She took a deep breath.

'Wands work like radio's, to hear something or get some results you need to use the radio and get the right frequentie. But I don't need one, I can just- ... do things.'

He let her speak and listened intently.

'As a kid it was quite frightening. Harry and I had these accidents, we had no idea what they meant. Sometimes we just ended up on top of a building, while we had no memory of how we got there. But sometimes when I was alone, things happened... even more frightening than the accidents that happened while I was with Harry. I thought I was cursed.'

'You must have felt really relieved when you received the letter from Hogwarts.'

'Yeah.' She remembered Uncle Vernon not being happy at all.

 _'No post on sunday. Ha!'_

Oh. How wrong he had been that day...

'So,' She pulled herself up and leaned against her pillow. 'What's the damage?'

Charlie flicked his wand and a clipboard appeared with a list.

'It says here you had a small concussion and- ooh.'

'What is it?' She bended forward, trying to read what it said.

'How are you not screaming in pain and drooling?'

'I'm different than most you see.' She said cheeky

They laughed for a short moment, their laughter filling the cold room.

'What is it? What injuries do I have?' She asked again.

'Maybe it's better if you asked what you don't have. This list doesn't seem to end...' He kept flipping the pages.

'You've broken more things in one hour than I have in an entire life time!'

'Broken?' She twisted herself in the bed, trying to detect what was broken.

'I don't think anything is broken.'

'Well, it says right here. Shall I go and get my friend, the nurse?'

She thought about it for a moment and nodded in consent. He stood up and left, the heavy doors shutting behind him. Now that she was left alone she could think about the questions that still went unanswered, such as; what exactly is that mirror and what was she going to show Charlie? She already told him more about what happened in that particular summer than she had ever told anyone. Only a few people really knew what had happened, and now she was including Charlie as one of them. Was she being too selfish to tell him all of this and burden him with this knowledge? She had kept up the act that she didn't want to tell him anything, but maybe deep down she was screaming to get it out. She needed someone to confide in and right now that was Charlie. Was it selfish, or was this a right thing to do? She liked having Charlie around, was it because she liked him or his pain reducing talks? Was she using him or was he just helping her... All those thoughts made her crazy and she banished them all from her mind. She managed to concentrate on the mirror and decided to investigate it one more time. Slowly she climbed out of the bed and walked over to the opposite side of the room. With her hands she sought support from the wall and chairs. The mirror was shining in the dim flickering lights of the candles around it. She touched it with her hand and traced lines with her fingers. It was stone cold and fitted right in the cold and basic room. The silver was damaged and hid the beautiful touch it once had on the mirror. It now was an ordinary mirror.

 _'_ Just a mirror...' She muttered deep in thought.

She looked down at the chess pieces again and rethought the conversation she had just had with Charlie. Some pleasantries here and there, small talk, and deep subjects. She sighed, as she remembered she told him she would do the spell, would show him her memories. Practice, she still needed to practice before trying to use powerful magic. An idea sprang up and she sat down on the chair next to the table. First she hesitated, but then she lifted her hand. Her eyes were trained on a red knight. She would only bring him to life, only him. She felt the familiar prickle in her finger and it shot through her hand and arm, through the rest of her body. And the knight came to life. She smiled soflty and lowered her hand on the table. This simple achievement made her feel amazing. This simple victory gave her hope.

At that moment the door opened and Charlie came back with a woman. They noticed the empty bed and the nurse immediately noticed her in the chair, stalked over to her and started checking her ears and eyes and muttered chants.

'Why do heavily injured patients always have to get out of bed and wander around the room?' She muttered with a thick romanian accent.

'Heavily injured?' Aral asked in disbelief.

'Yes! Very heavily injured. How did you get out of bed?'

'With my legs.'

'Very funny.' The elderly woman said sarcastically. 'Charlie dear, please help me get her back to the bed.'

'I can walk, ma'am.' Aral assured her.

The woman quirked a brow and looked at Charlie.

'Or someone treated her or she has a very high pain level. Both are very unlikely.'

Charlie picked her up and placed her yet again back on the bed. Their faces were both painted with focsus and confusion. The woman muttered spells and chants and waved her wand, while Charlie just stood there and observed the woman work. Aral could only sigh in frustration, she never liked to be chained up.

'They're gone.' The woman uttered amazed.

'What?' Charlie asked.

'Most of the injuries, the bruises and bleedings... they're gone.'

The woman lowered her wand and looked her in the eye.

'Did anyone else come in here?' She asked Charlie without looking at him, her eyes staring into Aral's as if trying to read her mind. Just to be sure she blocked her mind from legilimency.

'No.'

'Did you heal yourself?' This question was directed towards her.

'No.' She answered. But then she started thinking.

'Or I did it unconsiously.'

'Unconsiously.' The woman repeated her. 'How in merlin's beard could you have healt yourself _unconsiously._ '

'I can't always control it.' Aral stared right back into her dark brown eyes.

'Ahem.' Charlie interrupted their staring competition.

The woman straightend her back again and lifted her chin.

'My name is Alina.'

'Aral. But you already knew that probably.'

Alina nodded and took a step towards a cupboard, she hadn't noticed yet, and took out some objects.

'I will treat your last injuries as well as I can. You may have healt yourself from most, but there are still a lot left, like those burns spread all over your body.'

Now it was her time to nod at Alina. Alina started to pull on her clothing to get a look at the wounds, exposing some of Aral's tighs and sides.

'I quess I will just uhh-...' Charlie uncomfortably turned around and walked to the door.

But just before he could open it to leave, it got opened from the other side. A blond, black clothed, young man came walking in, with quick steps and their boss following him, trying to stop him.

'Mr. Malfoy, please, I have to-'

'I don't have time for this.' He spit back.

Draco's eyes fell on Aral in her bed and he took determined steps towards her. But halfway through the room Charlie stepped in front of him.

'Malfoy.'

'Weasley.' Draco sneered.

Charlie eyed his boss, soundlessly asking what Draco was doing here. But his boss just looked hopelessly at the situation. Draco attempted to step around him, but he simply stretched out his hand and blocked Draco's path.

'Let me through.'

'Draco?' Aral asked, baffled by his appearance.

Charlie noticed her use of his first name.

'Aral, can you please tell these people' He almost spit the words out. 'to let me through.'

Charlie however only straightened his position and used his height to intimidate Draco, but Draco wasn't this easily intimidated and he too straightened up and stood face to face with the read head.

'What are you doing here?' Charlie asked him with a harsh voice.

Before Draco could answer Aral spoke loud and clear.

'It's okay. Let him through.'

Charlie didn't move a muscle, but didn't stop Draco either when he walked around him towards Aral, with a pleased smirk plastered on his face. But the satisfied smirk turned into concerned eyes and a furrowed brow.

'Aral? Are you alright? What happened?' He knelt down beside her bed.

'Yes, I'm- I'm alright. A few bruises, that's all.'

Alina shook her head, knowing it was more than just a few bruises.

'Excuse me, but I am treating this patient. You can visit her later.'

Draco ignored her however.

'What happened?' He whispered, only she could hear him. 'I received a warning.'

'How?' She whispered back, brows furrowed.

'Through this.' He helt up the necklace. Aral's heartbeat quickened at the sight of it. Her eyes flashed with fear.

'It's okay. Calm down.' Draco grabbed her hand, because he knew she was frightened.

Aral didn't answer his question and stared at the wall.

'Aral, please, look at me.'

'Sir, I have to ask you to leave. Now.'

Alina interrupted and stepped forward, her stern gaze fixed on his face. Slowly he stood up, but didn't leave yet.

'She's been burned.' He noticed her exposed skin, red from the heat.

'Yes and I have to treat those wounds right now, and I can't do it with all these people here. Everyone needs to get out.'

She waved with her hands towards the door, only their boss seemed eager to leave, though he didn't.

'Mr. Malfoy,' he said with the voice of authority, 'you have to come with me now, or I will have to remove you by force for trespassing.'

'Trespassing? I'm visiting!'

'Draco.' Aral warned him, his temper could get him in trouble.

Charlie had his gaze still fixed on Draco and didn't seem pleased at all with him being there. The tension in the room grew.

'Draco, just go.'

'Yes, Malfoy. Leave.' Charlie said with clenched teeth.

Aral closed her eyes knowing that if Charlie hadn't said what he had said, Draco would have listened and would have left, but now his stubborness and pride will induce him to stay exactly where he was.

'Make me.' Draco fired back at him.

'With pleasure.' Charlie took a step forward.

'Guys!' Aral exclaimed. 'You're not four!'

'He is.' Draco pointed at Charlie childishly.

'You're a ferret. Ferret.' Charlie sneered.

They stood nose to nose again, ready to fight. But this time it was Alina who put a stop to it.

'Expelliarmus.' Both of their wands, which they secretly had gotten out of their pockets, flew out of their hands.

'And now. Get. Out!' Her fury could be compared with Mcgonagall's, and frightened each man in the room. Aral crossed her arms, supporting the woman in silence. She locked eyes with Draco and nodded at him, telling him to get out.

'Fine.' Draco finished, holding out his hand to retrieve his wand.

'You both won't get your wands back, not untill I have treated miss Potter here, and you two have calmed down about wathever you are so angry about.'

Both tramped defeated back to the door, while the boss held it open. He had kept his mouth shut the whole time, which made him the wisest person in the room. When they had all left Alina turned around and sighed.

'Boys will be boys.'


	21. Chapter 21: Old and New Scars

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 21: Old and New Scars_

Stalking back and forth Draco remained silent, and tried to ignore the Weasley, not even sparing him a glance in his direction. The red head brought up this overabundance of irritation, which he couldn't shake. Something about him...-

His thoughts got interupted as he heard two voices whisper behind his back. He never liked it when people whispered around him, he always had this feeling they were talking about him.

At the moment his feeling was right. Charlie was speaking to his boss, mr. Draggan, about the young man. Draggan told him to keep an eye on him, since he wouldn't come with him to his office, and he had other matters to attend to. He added some words about him not trusting any of his 'sort' and that Charlie should inform him if anything happened, relating mr. Malfoy or miss Potter. Charlie responded that he would do so.

Charlie took a possition of leaning against the wall opposite of the infirmary, drumming a rithim with his fingers, Draco kept pacing around the narrow corridor. He took the time to inspect the building, though almost everything around the reserve was built like tents, they had built the hospital with solid brick walls.

Charlie almost wanted to tell him to stop pacing around like that, when Draco indeed stopped on his own accord, and stood still facing a window. His demeanor poised and black suit unwrinkled.

They felt a mutual disdain for each other, both didn't know why, though there were obvious causes, they couldn't pin point the exact reason.

The silence proceeded and the heavy tension filled the air. Draco was still feeling snappy, though Charlie had calmed down more and felt more civiliced towards the other. He didn't feel like apologizing first though, not wanting to talk first.

And he didn't have to.

'You must understand I really care for her.' Draco spoke with difficulty. Admitting his feelings to another was hard for him, even more so the person he was talking to not being considered as a friend. He had done it twice now already in one day, admitting it to Charlie and Harry.

Charlie was surprised by his comment, not expecting him to say anything at all, let alone this.

'Not here on bussiness for the dark side then?' He joked, with a blank voice.

But Draco hastily turned round and looked at him angrily, quickly he raised his hands in an apologizing manner.

'Sorry, wrong moment to drop a joke.'

'Believe it or not, I'm here for her well-being.' He said sternly.

'Yeah, about that...' Charlie began, he pushed himself off of the wall and stood opposite to Draco. 'I've talked to her about... things. And it seems that she's still troubled by... her dark past.'

Draco turned round again and scowled.

'Her dark past.' He imitated Charlie. 'First Harry and now you... You have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about!'

'First Harry? You've spoken to Harry?' Charlie urged.

'Yes, of course, I have! And he is as blind and dumb as you are!' He pointed an accusing finger towards him.

Charlie stayed still and looked at Draco who was pulling a face, brows furrowed in a confused way.

'Unbelievable.' Draco muttered, turning away to face the window again.

'Than make me see.' Charlie took a step forward.

Draco frowned at this bizarre statement, not understanding its meaning.

'Tell me, show me. What she has seen and felt. If you showed me trough your experienced eyes-'

'Show you?' Draco quirked a brow, he couldn't believe his ears. 'You won't understand.'

'But if you helped me understand, I can help her!' Charlie was being very persistent.

'You won't understand! You can't!' Draco frantically whirled around.

'You can't! What she has seen and felt, the pain and utter loss... Even through my 'expierenced' eyes you won't be able to see her pain, not even half of it.'

He felt the need to breath and dearly wanted to blast a hole through the window, but upon reaching for his pocket he remembered his wand had been taken form him by the elderly witch and he cursed under his breath.

'What the world has done to her...' He shook his head. 'The pain and suffering is uncompared to anything anyone has ever seen or felt. It was absolutely inhumane and savage. She was living hell on earth.'

Charlie remained silent still, wanting to hear what Draco had to say and eager to find out more about the misterious young woman only one door next to them.

Draco's thoughts were jumping from one to another. He remembered things about Aral and about their horrible summer, but also heard himself think about the Weasley family and Potter and the rest with their noble deeds.

'You're just like the rest of them. Trying to save everyone. Trying to save the day.'

Draco huffed.

'It's funny actually that the people who need saving were probably not even on _your side._ Like you described mine so neatly, the ' _dark side'_ doesn't deserve saving. Because we're the baddies,' he retorted childishly, 'and bad people aren't worth your time.'

'That's not true!' Charlie stepped in.

Draco shifted to face the red head fully and straightened his back.

'Tell me, how many times have death eaters and their families have received mercy, real mercy?'

Charlie yet again refrained from answering, knowing the answer would be frightingly close to zero.

'I thought so.' Draco stepped aside and strode toward the other side of the corridor and faced the door.

For a moment he imagined Aral behind it, on her bed probably scolding at the treatment of the lady. He wondered if she wished him to take over and tend to her wounds, like he always had. But he tore his gaze away from the door and forced it to the ground, banishing any thoughts about the witch trying to concentrade on the on-going conversation.

'I'm not saying they deserve to be treated better, we have all done our bad things in voldemort's benefit, but some of us... My parents and I may have been pardoned, but still we are treated like scum, and my parents are forced to hide because of the angry people who have lost their families, and I'm not saying they don't have the right to do so. They have every right. But my mother...'

He paused for a moment and stared down to his own hands, turning the heavy ring, bearing the Malfoy crest, around his finger. Charlie listened intently, starting to feel sympathy towards the sad Malfoy.

'She never joined his ranks, only standing beside my father, because she had to. Because all of her family and connections were there and she had to obey. Of course she believed pure-bloods to be supperior to others, but she never agreed to all the other stuff, the dark and horrible things.'

He stepped away from the door and faced Charlie, with a beaten and tired expression on his face. Charlie's eyes were slightly widened, listening intently to him.

'I'm sorry about that.'

'Yeah, well, nothing we can do about it now.'

Charlie sighed again. Now he turned to face the door.

'What can I do? If not understand her.'

Draco saw the sincere concern in his eyes, and couldn't help but feel gratitute. At least someone was there to be with her when he couldn't.

'Help her move on.' He said with a blank voice.

'And how do suppose I do that without knowing her past?'

Draco sighed.

'I don't want her to go down that road for a second time.'

'It's very complicated.' Charlie stated to which Draco could only agree.

They fell silent once more, both drowned in their own thoughts. Charlie tried thinking of a way to help Aral, without hurting her. But after a moment he found himself wandering to the moments when he had noticed how Draco acted around her. He faguely remembered her muttering 'Malfoy' when he had carried her to the infirmary, now probably knowing why. But other moments peaked his mind too. The small touches and protective behaviour from Draco towards Aral, was... surprising. Charlie became curious, but also felt a strange knot form in his stomach, he chose to ignore it.

Something else sprang up in Charlie's mind, something that he didn't quite understand.

'Malfoy,' He turned to look at him seriously. 'How did you know she was here?'

Draco sighed.

'I'm afraid that's not something for me to tell. But I can tell you that she has been writing letters. Saying she is okay, but you should know; Harry has reported her missing.'

Charlie rubbed his face with his hands and sighed.

'Damnit Harry.'

'Pain in the arse, isn't he?'

Charlie chuckled lightly, but quickly remembered it was Draco who he was talking to, and just a moment before they were on the brink of fighting.

'He is a good brother, but he has absolutely no idea of what he's doing. Like a blind person trying to read.'

'You know they have invented braille.' Charlie joked.

'Well, he bloody doesn't use it.' Draco growled.

'Harry means well.' Charlie commented.

'But he is making things worse! For her, for me and for everyone else!' Draco was starting to get irritated like moments before.

'What if she was lost to you? What would you have done then?'

'She was lost to me, Weasley! The moment she gave up and that bloody mark was imprinted on her skin!' Draco exclaimed, clencing his fists and angrily raising them in the air.

Charlie was aghast, and took a step back. He swallowed and lowered his gaze to the ground trying to proces what Draco had just said. He suddenly was back at the hills with a dragon behind him and Aral's dark eyes staring up at him, while she whispered words he wished he had never heard.

 _'Kill me...'_

'What if it is too late, already?' He muttered sadly, his face contorted in dispair.

Draco was breathing heavily and his suit started to wrinkle, breaking his poise.

Before either of them could answer an agonizing scream filled the air, followed by a loud thud. Their heads shot up to the door and after processing the sound they sprinted towards it and Draco, who had reached it first, wrenched open the door. They gasped at the sight before them.

Alina was laying on the ground, fallen most likely, explaining the loud thud they had heard. Charlie rushed over to her side and helped her up, he immediately looked towards Aral, but a fague shimmer in the air blurred his vision. Draco didn't hesitate and with quick paces crossed the room. Untill he quickly stopped, right in front of the shimmer.

Charlie turned his head towards the witch. 'What happened?'

She straightened her back and took a few deep breaths.

'I had decided to start with non-magical treatments, I reckoned her still vulnerable to magical contact. But after I had given her a sleeping potion... She seemed so calm and peaceful, I believed she was ready for the magical treatment. I now know I was wrong.'

Draco sighed disapprovingly. Alina ignored him however and continued.

'When I spoke the first spell and was about to cast it on her it backfired and blasted me away.'

She indicated Charlie she was able to stand on her own and walked towards the bed, but also stopped before the shimmer. Charlie took a few steps and halted also, but after looking at it he thought nothing of it was harmfull and was about to step through, when a hand held him back and he heard Draco.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you. I've seen a lot of powerful man trying to walk through it, and it doesn't exactly tickle.'

Charlie took his former place again with a distance between him and the strange magic.

'I'm not familiar with this sort of magic. What is it?'

Before Draco could answer Alina spoke up.

'A powerful shield, conjured to protect its anchor.' She was intrigued by it and the powerful young witch behind it. It had formed a globe around her and the bed, while she lay there peacefully.

Alina turned to Draco.

'You seem to know and understand her magic best. How could she summon this in her sleep?'

Draco opened and then closed his mouth, thinking briefly and formed a sentence.

'She can't always control it. It's trying to protect itself.'

The witch nodded and pressumed watching the girl.

'Well, what are we going to do?' Charlie asked curiously.

'Always the man of action.' Draco muttered, then added; 'You are doing nothing, while I will try and reach her.'

'If it means you're going to stick your hand through it and try to poke her, be my guest.' Charlie retorted.

'Boys.' Alina said sternly. 'Not now.'

Draco bit back a sharp comment and snarled instead. Charlie wisely listened to the witch.

'Can I have my wand back, please?' Draco asked nicely, to which he received his wand from the witch.

He raised his hands and began chanting and muttering words. Charlie nor Alina knew any of them, though they both knew how to read and speak ancient runes. They both listened intently to him, trying to figure out what exactly he was doing. Which reminded Charlie he had to send word to mr. Draggan about what had happened, though he deemed it not really necessary and made a mental note to do it later. Aral being his first priority, though there was nothing he could do.

Draco pulled a face and groaned, as if performing the ritual hurt him. His hands began to lower, and tremble.

'Oh, come on.' He muttered cranky.

'Weasley?' He called, to which Charlie responded by standing next to him. 'I need your help.'

He hated he had to ask him for help, but he wouldn't want to bring this upon the elderly witch either. He held out his hand.

'Hold my hand.'

'What?' Charlie was baffled, he thought he maybe had heard wrong.

Draco sighed annoyed and grapped Charlie's hand.

'Just bloody stay still. If you want to help her, you'll have to lent your energy to me.'

Then Charlie felt something inside him move, it pulled towards his arm and floated through his hand into Draco's. Charlie had heard of this before, it was difficult magic, sharing your energy or magic source with another, this way the other has more capabilities. It seemed to be helping, for the shimmer started to weaken. But then out of nowhere a powerful source hit both Draco and Charlie. They grunted in pain but held their ground. The elderly witch quickly stood opposite them, examening what was wrong.

'Whatever you are doing, I suggest we find another way.' She said boldly.

'There is no other way. I know, I tried.' Draco managed to get out through gritted teeth, concentrating with all his and Charlie's energy on the force field.

The transparant shimmer started to colour, and for a moment Charlie was able to see the world in colour. Real colour, the colour of magic. Beautiful and yet dangerous. But as quick as it had come it was gone. He blinked and he felt his muscles stiffen once more, almost all of his energy flowing to Draco. Alina stood disapprovingly in front of them, shaking her head. He felt like he couldn't breath anymore, and wondered if this would actually work when at long last the shimmering globe broke in millions of pieces to the ground, like a mirror. The shards falling to the ground and making a lot of noise. Draco let go of Charlie's hand and staggered towards the bed, his hands seeking support on the railing. Though Charlie felt really exhausted and numb he too walked over to Aral and stood by her side. Alina quickly started checking her, non-magically of course.

'I don't understand.' She muttered and kept examining her.

Draco took a few deep breaths and leaned over her, checking a few things on his own. Charlie wondered when he had learned to take care of someone like that, he knew Draco had an office job and didn't exactly pass as a healer.

All three of them startled and took a step backwards when Aral's eyes suddenly flew open and she inhaled a deep breath, as if she hadn't breathed for a long while. Immediately her face contorted in pain and she rolled to her side, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around herself. She didn't even notice the two men and the woman standing besides her bed, she could only feel the pain.

Alina raised her wand to try and ease her pain, but Draco grapped her wrist.

'No.' He quickly stopped her.

'She's in pain, she needs treatment.' She exclaimed.

Draco didn't answer, but walked around the bed and bent down.

'Hey, hey. Aral it's me.' He tried to talk to her, but she was whimpering in pain and ignoring him.

He straightened his back and held up his wand once again.

'As long as the shield was around her no magic of any sort was able to come into contact with her, she was in some sort of coma. That's why she's reacting so heavily.'

He began to chant and mutter. His wand tracing the wounds on her body, without direct contact. Her body started shaking and she rolled on her back. Charlie stepped forward and grabbed her hands, trying to comfort her. He had seen a lot of things, but he hated this the most. Another person in pain, without the power to do something about it. Her eyes kept staring at the ceilling, watery from her tears. She whimpered and cried, because of the pain.

 _'You won't understand! You can't!'_

The words echoed through his mind.

 _'What she has seen and felt, the pain and utter loss... Even through my 'expierenced' eyes you won't be able to see her pain, not even half of it.'_

Charlie finaly understood his words, not only did she seem to be in unimaginable pain, but also shattered in millions of pieces like the force field. Broken and afraid, of the past and the future, constantly trapped in the present. He held her hand and traced circles on the back, soothing her.

Draco's spells seemed to help as her muscles relaxed and she laid more still. But still small shocks shot through her, he could even feel them through her hands. Draco bent down and turned her head in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumb.

'Shhh. It's okay.'

Charlie slowly let go of her hands and stepped back. He let the two of them have a moment. He watched as Draco soothed her and whiped away her tears. One hand cupping her cheeck, the other holding her hand. Though Charlie didn't know why he turned his gaze away, not being able to watch them. Alina noticed him avoiding the display infront of them, but said nothing of it. Instead she walked forward to the other side of the bed.

'Now, how is my patient?' She asked.

'Oh, Merlin. I'm- I'm so so sorry, Alina! I didn't-' Another wave of tears threathened to stream down her face, but Alina interupted her.

'It's okay, my dear. I live on a dragon reserve, I have lived through worse.' She assured her.

The words brightened Aral, though she was still sad and weak.

'I feel- okay I quess. Merlin, I don't know.' She sighed, her eyes still puffy and covered her face with her hands.

'Aral, it's okay.' Draco pulled her hands down, but at the movement she whimpered in pain.

Her body started to ache again and her wounds re-opened. She hissed as a burning and prickling pain stabbed her everywhere. Slowly and gently Draco guided her down on the pillows and rolled her on her side.

'I will need your help.' He told Alina, who nodded in response and stood ready.

With one flick of his wand Draco cut the fabric that covered her back, only her bra left to cover her skin. Charlie instinctively wanted to look away, but couldn't. Her pale back not only being covered by her bruises and burns received from her fight with the dragon, but also covered by old wounds, cuts and scars told him a grave story, far too grave for a girl her age. Far too grave for any human, wizard or muggle. With his lips slightly parted and breath caught in his throath he watched the wizard and witch work on the broken body of the young witch. For a moment his gaze wandered up to her left arm, the dark mark only partially visible.

'Merlin, what has the world done to you, Aral?' He muttered, unheard by the others.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hey guys!**

 **I'm sorry for the delay, I'm writing as fast as I can. (Hope you don't mind, waiting;))**

 **I actually don't really know how I feel about this chapter. I keep thinking something is missing.**

 **We are in the hospital for three chapters already and in the next one I really want to get out. But there are so many plot holes and I'm having a hard time to find them all and piece them together, I'm trying my best though.**

 **If there are things you don't quite understand or believe you found something that doesn't really fit in the story or have something that would fit in perfectly, write me, so I can change things and make the story better for everyone.**

 **I'm thinking about doing a shirtless Charlie next chapter, not sure though, depends on your enthusiasm. ;)**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and will enjoy the next one,**

 **have a nice day!**

 **\- J**


	22. Chapter 22: Bedtime Stories

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 22: Bedtime Stories_

She shook awake and immediately sat up right. She remembered what had happened and where she was. After a moment she chose to get up and out of bed. Her feet touched the cold stone again and she walked towards the window on the left side of the room. Something was nagging in her mind, she turned when she remembered the other man, who had been here. The bed was empty, or he had healed or they had removed him. She believed it to be the latter, after her 'accident' - as Charlie liked to call it. She wanted to look out of the window, but some spell had been put on it, she couldn't see through it. She sighed and closed her eyes, rejoicing in the light which lighted the room. She walked back, finding her legs and body stronger than before. Only then she noticed the man in the chair next to her bed. She smiled when she saw him slumped down on the chair, sleeping. There was a note beside him, she bent over him to read it.

 _'Aral,_

 _If you read this you must have woken up. I'm glad about that._

 _Your condition wasn't very possitive, but mr. Malfoy and I have done our best with healing your wounds._

 _I do have to accent that you do not leave your bed under any circomstances. And I mean it!_

 _I also have to note that things have happened while you were in our care... But we'll tell you later, nothing to worry about now.'_

Aral frowned, this was getting a bit suspicious. What could have happened? Did the ministry show up, because of the damage?

 _Bloody hell._

She sighed, but then realized she didn't give a damn about the ministry. If they wanted to lock her up and throw away the key than why not?

 _'Notify me when you've woken up._

 _Hope you get well soon,_

 _Alina._

 _PS: If Charlie is sleeping you should probably let him be; he hasn't left your side since you fell asleep again.'_

Aral smiled at the last. He hadn't left her...

She felt something, she felt... She had no idea what it was. She ruled it off as flattered, nothing less, nothing more.

She wasn't supposed to leave the infirmary...

 _But breaking rules is so much fun!_

She smirked at her inner self, someone she hadn't been for a long while. This place was really having an effect on her. Slowly she stepped away from Charlie, trying not to wake him. He did really look tired, and the chair didn't really look comfortable. She wanted to do something about it and without thinking she levitated him and slowly placed him on the bed with soft pillows and blankets. He seemed much better and more handsome.

'Goodnight, Charlie.' She whispered with a smirk.

When she reached the door realization hit her. She froze on the spot, turned back to the bed and stared. She had just effortlessly conjured soft pillows and blankets, and levitated Charlie! After a moment she chuckled and smiled, her day couldn't get any better. She had been cured! Or at least started healing. Softly she closed the door and started exploring.

* * *

After removing the cold cloth hanging around her thin body she put on her own clothes, enjoying the long sleeved black shirt and trousers. She was walking through a corridor and started wondering why she couldn't see through the windows. On some walls there were portrets hanging, picturing old wizards and witches with titles such as 'Inventor of the Pordontix potion' or 'First witch to ever tame a dragon'. The witch on the latter painting looked very old, but sweet, save for the large scar covering her tanned face. Aral enjoyed walking around. Though she also wondered why the corridors seemed so abandoned, she hadn't seen someone since the room where she had been in.

Suddenly she heard voices and quickly backed up to a wall. The voices came from a room opposite her. Two woman were talking, they sounded young.

'...and the whole place shook! It's a miracle everything is still standing.' Someone spoke.

'I wish I had been there! Why did I have to go to the village yesterday? It sounds so- so... exciting.' The other girl rambled.

'Exciting? Terrifying! I thought I was going to die... I saw that old guy, Ben, after it had happened - I had to help him with some burns - and he looked so freaked, like he had seen a ghost!'

'Oh really? But you were here when it happened, who's your source?'

'Well, I tried to make Ben talk, but of course he wouldn't spill anything. But then I walked into Sebastian...'

The girls giggled for a moment. Somehow Aral had the feeling this Sebastian was the handsome guy from the hills who had commented after her little outburst against the older guy. She stuck out her tongue in disgust, she was allergic for giggling girls, especially when they are giggling about some guy. But she kept listening, interested in what Sebastian had told her about what had happened.

'Come on, tell me!' The other said, impatiently.

'Well, he said he had never seen anything like it and had never felt such powerful magic.' Her tone turned a little more serious. 'He had never felt something so dangerous... He said the dragon was scared of her. Scared! Of her? Have you ever seen her? Pale and skinny!'

She laughed. Aral's brow arched.

 _Pale and skinny? I beg your pardon..._

She started to loath these girls. Still she kept listening, interested in what stories were being told about her on the reserve.

'Apparently she fought the dragon by trapping it with water. It was a fire dragon, you see, it was the dragon's weakness.'

'But it was a full size dragon? How on earth did she manage that on her own?'

The other stayed quiet, probably shrugging her shoulders, not knowing the answer.

'Everyone else had crossed the second barrier already, but she stayed. I don't understand her in any way... She could have died.'

Aral looked down at her feet, remembering that moment. Yes, she could have died. But not as easy as the rest of them. And a small part of her didn't care, didn't care if... She pushed away the thoughts and shook her head. She shouldn't think like that.

'But I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Draggan will have to fire her, for sure.' She giggled.

Aral took a step back and leaned against the wall, head toward the ceiling.

 _Bloody hell._

She had totally forgotten about that. But of course... He would have to register this 'accident' at the Romanian ministry of magic and their rules must include something telling she should be fired. Standard protocal. Wait.

If the ministry knew about her accident, they knew about her. And all the files the ministry of magic held were shared across the world, including the English ministry. Therefore, Harry must have been made aware of where she was - let's frase it as - hanging out.

She felt like hyperventilating, but made no noise. All she wanted to do was leave and flee. She needed air, she needed to be outside. Visit her young and see what Gemi had been up to. Immediately she made her way down the corridor, before she was stopped by something one of the girls said. She froze in place when she heard a name.

'So, have you seen Charlie, Britney?' One asked the other.

The other sighed annoyed.

'Oh, shut it. He's been locked up in that room with _her_ all day.' Britney said 'her' with quite a lot of disgust in her tone. Aral once again raised a brow.

'I heard of your conversation you have had with him at lunch.' The other snickered.

Aral heard the sound of someone being smacked on her arm.

'Ouch! He did call you 'daft cow' if I recall correctly.'

'Yeah well, he had just had a rough and long shift and was irritated, and then I started nagging about those rumors around Potter and he just...'

Her last words were muffled as they seemed to have moved away from the door. Aral didn't want to try and listen anymore. The girl Britney had tried to talk to Charlie about her? About the rumors, which had been going round on the reserve. Aral snorted. Daft cow indeed. She made for the stairs and quickly walked down to the hall. She peered around the corner to check if anyone was there, but the desk where the receptionist was supposed to be was empty and as quick and quiet as she could be she made for the door.

* * *

After having formaly been permitted to visit Aral on the reserve, Draco stalked towards the cabins. He had been told where her's was located and could see it already. He hadn't been permitted to go in the hospital anymore, since he practically broke some rules and had just walked in, but he was free to visit her. He just didn't have the time to just wait around the hospital outside. So he had decided to wait at her 'home'.

 _As far as you can call it that._ He thought when he saw the small wooden cabin.

He was careful to detect any protective charms, but knowing Aral she probably hadn't done anything to protect her little cottage. With a flick of his wand the door opened and he stepped inside, enjoying the little warmth from the cabin. Quickly he closed the door and turned around. He looked around, careful not to touch anything. He sighed when he saw how she was living; it was a mess, books and papers spread across the whole floor and some clothes hanging on chairs. He looked in the kitchen, glad to find it was a little more tidy and dishes clean. He conjured himself a glass of water and pulled back a chair, sitting down to wait. After a few minutes of boredom he noticed another door, probably leading toward her bedroom. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help himself and stood up. He pushed the door open to reveal a dark room. He flicked on a light and looked around, all the while sighing.

 _Complete mess._

When he took another step he felt something under his shoe and bent down to pick it up. It was a letter with a picture attached to it. He scanned the letter. It was from Hermione; she wrote about what was going on back in England and how they all worried about her. He sighed again, and dropped the letter. He looked at the picture; it was a picture of the Weasley's with some additions of girlfriends and wifes. He dropped it too. He sat down on the bed and next to him there was another pack of letters, he couldn't resist and opened them one by one.

He read each one. Each letter contained concerns and people calling for her. Each letter told her something about the life she had had in England, which she still could have, but had denied herself. He sighed again. Aral was very exhausting sometimes to take care of. After reading some of them he threw them back on the bed, too tired to read the words. He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. Permitting himself this short moment of rest. But when he closed his eyes it wasn't for a short while anymore. He had fallen in a deep sleep.

* * *

He woke up startled and wet, his face covered in water. He yelped in surprise.

'Bloody hell!' He grapped his wand and quickly tried to stand to advance his attacker. He heard a laugh and paused when he realized it came from Aral. Blinking he took in her features, laughing and bright. He hadn't heard her laugh in years, not truly laugh.

'Did you have to do it?' He grumbled cranky, but couldn't help join in with her laugh.

'Yes, you practically broke into my home and I have every right to throw water on your drooling face.'

'I don't drool.' His comment only made her laugh harder, but for once he didn't mind, he liked the sound. He turned the tip of his wand to his face and muttered a drying spell, he cleaned himself up and pulled his clothing right.

'Always so vain.' She remarked while turning around and walking through the small door toward her kitchen. She didn't see him stick out his tongue like a child. Maybe he was childish after all.

'So why are you here? I don't believe you came here only to take a nap in my bed.' She commented.

'Why are you here?' He retorted. 'Last time I saw you, you weren't exactly in the best of state.'

She snorted and picked up some papers and books and shoved them aside to make some space.

'Because every other time you've seen me I looked great?' She said sarcasm overflowing.

He sighed. 'To answer your question: I still needed to talk to you.'

She plopped down on her small couch and sighed. 'About what?'

He looked at her and contemplated what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. He tilted his head and Aral waited patiently on his answer. He sat down on the chair opposite her and leaned back, reached into his pocket and pulled out the object he had showed her earlier.

Her eyes found the object and immediately she froze. 'I don't want it here.' She said after a long moment.

He inspected her intently and ignored her wish for the object to be gone and placed it in front of her on the table. He saw her flinch and she glared up at him.

'When you gave me the object you never told me why and you never told me what it is.'

She didn't say anything so he continued.

'You just handed it over to me and I never questioned you. But now I really want to know why and what it is.'

'Want and need are two very different things.'

'Damnit Aral, I'm not playing this game!' He growled.

'It isn't a game. I just don't think you need to know.' She retorted.

'Well for once in your life, don't think that you're always right.' He snarled.

She bend forward and leaned her elbows on her knees. 'We compromise. I ask you a question and you ask me and we have to answer with the truth.'

He nodded in agreement and waited for her question, already having asked his.

'How did you find me?' Was her question.

Draco answered first. 'Harry came to me once, he was worried about you.' He paused and looked out of a dirty window. 'First it was just brotherly concern of course, but it became worse. Did you know he filed you as a missing person?' He asked suddenly, almost having forgotten about it. Aral raised her eyebrows and shook her head, she didn't. 'Yes, well, he did. But anyway, I got angry and whenever I'm angry mother always knows to find me.' He grumbled, but Aral understood she had known his mother was always concerned about him and was able to feel from miles away if he was upset. 'She came to Malfoy Manor and talked to me. She said that I had to find you if I wanted to help you. But I didn't know how. But then something hit me; the necklace you gave me...' He looked up into her eyes and she listened intently. 'I just had this feeling that it would tell me where you were and I was right: when I picked it up, somehow my mind traveled to yours and I was able to see and feel what you were seeing and feeling.' He fell silent again, and Aral's gaze dropped when she realized he must have felt and seen her fight with the dragon. 'I saw hills, a dragon and a streak of red hair. It wasn't much, but all I needed to know where you were. Especially that last one helped out.'

She smirked when he mentioned Charlie. 'You know he has a bit of brown in his hair too, like one of his ancestor's.'

'Well, I don't spent my time gazing at Weasley's hair to make out which colour it exactly is.' He teased.

She snorted and turned her attention to the object again. Something like fear crept around her and closed in on her heart.

'Now it is your turn to answer my question.' Draco calmly noted.

She swallowed and shook her head to clear it and focused on the question. She didn't know what and how she was going to tell him. That she had found it somewhere, that it belonged to her mother, whom she didn't know? All those thoughts pained her and she didn't want to think of them. She shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. She hadn't heard him move, but after a moment she felt Draco sit down beside her and gently put an arm around her shoulders. She opened her eyes again and fought back any possible tears, she was determined not to cry, she was over crying. Hesitatingly she reached out to touch the object, but before she came even near it she pulled back. She turned her head and focused on his face. On the face which had become so familiar over a summer. Again she sighed, but started forming a story in her mind.

'Do you remember that time at tea?' She asked softly, trying to make him remember a certain time at the Manor.

He frowned and thought for a moment, trying to recall a moment specifically with tea. Then it came to him. He nodded slowly.

'We were summoned to some occasion though _he_ never told us what it was about. And it involved tea.'

'Do you remember who were there?' Frowning at her question Draco thought about it, but didn't answer directly.

'Yes, why do you ask? Aral, are you trying to distract me?' She just shook her head in response.

'Do you remember me?' She asked quietly. Draco opened his mouth to say 'yes', but then realized he was wrong.

'You... weren't there.' His frown deepened. 'Where were you?' He asked further.

She took a deep breath. 'I was... investigating.'

He quirked a brow, in mock gesture. 'Investigating?'

'I was trying to find... someone.' She spoke with difficulty. 'And I may have altered your memories a bit...' The last words she spoke in whispers almost inarticulate for Draco.

'Wait... why?' He tried to look her directly in the eye, but she avoided his piercing silver stare by turning her attention to her hands. Abrublty she stood and stalked away. Started opening cupboards and started searching for something.

 _'We'll need water, a rope and paper.'_

'Aral.'

She ignored his call.

'Aral?' He had stood up and stood behind her, watching the witch frantically search through her kitchen.

'Rope.' She muttered, while her hands were trying to find it in a small box under a table.

'What?' He asked confused.

She turned around and looked at him. 'I. Need. A. Rope.' She articulated every word. Stunned Draco gaped at her and blinked. While she had already turned around and continued her search he slowly reached for his wand and wordlessly conjured a rope. Noting the rope in his hands she walked over and delighted took it from him.

The only thoughts circling in his mind; why a rope? And why hadn't she even thought about using magic, which had gone way faster than her way.

'What is it with you and using magic?' He asked while shaking his head. She glared at him, but made no comment. She took a bowl from her kitchen and filled it with water, then walked over to a wobbling pile of books and papers and pulled one sheet of paper out. She sat down and placed the three things in front of her and gestured for Draco to sit down too.

'What is this all about?' He asked flabbergasted, still not understanding one bit of her strange behaviour. He was starting to think she had lost her mind. She took his hand and dipped some water on it.

'If this is some strange excuse to throw water at me, _again,_ I won't be as forgiving as last time.' He growled.

'Vain.' Aral snorted as remark. She dipped the rope in water too and halted in her movements, seeming to think over what exactly she was supposed to do.

'You have absolutely no idea what you're doing are you?' Draco sighed.

'I know what I'm doing! I just haven't done it before.'

Carefully she bent over and placed the paper in the water and let it sink in the bowl. She took the rope and, while being carefull not to drip too much water on her floor, she knitted it around his right hand and then around her own.

'You could at least tell me what exactly we're doing.' He said after she had dipped her finger in the bowl of water and poked the paper, which was still soking wet.

She ignored him still, however. Concentrating on the next step, which to be honest, was the part she didn't really know how to do. She had read the guidelines on the paper, which Charlie had showed her, but she was still doubtful of the performance. The description was full of holes and she would have to improvise most of it. She didn't want to show Draco her doubts, though, for she didn't want him to doubt her, already having questioned her use of magic. From the corners of her eyes she could see him open his mouth to comment on her behaviour again, but she quickly shut him up.

'Hush.' She gave him a glare saying so. And with that she closed her eyes, but before she actually started to do something she opened them again and turned to Draco with a concerned look in her eyes. She swallowed. 'If- If something goes wrong...' His eyebrows shot up. 'then I will need you to... stop me. By any means necessary.'

He wanted to argue and tell her not to talk in such way, but he couldn't find his voice as her piercing green eyes bore into his own and pleadingly looked at him. So he nodded and turned his eyes away, down to their bound hands. When he looked up at her again her eyes were closed once again and face contorted into pure concentration. He waited.

He did feel something, pulling and pushing. Some cold and warm touches. But it never came close enough to discern what exactly it was, so he waited and sat still, patiently. They sat there for a while now and his patience started slipping and he bit down on his lip to keep from breaking this strange silence and stop this nonsense, which clearly wasn't working, anyway. He started thinking and decided this must have been a trick from Aral to try and bring his mind off of the matter at hand, which almost did work. He slowly lowered his hand, his arm had started aching from the long hovering in mid-air. The rope on their wrists pulled hers down too. Then he suddenly felt something. Like an arrow made out of cold air shot through him, the feeling comparable to a ghost walking straight through you. The cold shiver of death hugging your insides. He froze in his movements and stopped breating. After a second there came another arrow, and another. They kept comming, more and more rapidly. Each one colder than the last. Then it hit him: this was her; her mind trying to reach out to his. This magic required a different kind of memory sharing and at the moment he prefered a pensieve. He bit down on his lip hard, trying not to groan. The cold flooded over him and he wondered if she was feeling the same, and if not; what did she feel? Curious he opened his eyes and looked at her. A small gasp escaped his lips as his silver eyes bore into hers. They weren't green anymore; they were glowing gold, like melted gold sparkling in the sun, an universe locked into two eyes. A piece of beauty so small, and yet so dangerous. He hadn't seen her eyes in this way for a long time, not since summer 1997. All the oxigen seemed to have been sucked out from the air and he couldn't breath, yet it also felt like he didn't have to. Her eyes were staring into his and after a moment the gold seemed to widen and spread. He could only see the cold, like a sea of liquid magic and power. He felt himself drowning and sinking further down each second. A part of his mind told him to breath, to break this concentration and vulnerable bond between their minds, but the other part of him said he should stop struggling and embrace her mind. To share in her thoughts and to share in her memories. He only had to let go of the ground and sink into the gold. And he let go, he felt himself loose all form of sense. He could not smell, hear or feel any of his surroundings. He could only see gold. Suddenly a big gush of air filled his lungs and forced him to breath. But with the air came images and sounds. He suddenly heard a soft voice and a hard voice in his mind. The multiple voices screeched and yelled, their sound echo-ing like sharp stones through his head. He groaned, but didn't let go. He let her enter and share his mind. The images and voices weren't clear and he couldn't decipher anything. One thing started getting louder and more clear, though. An empty, dark room. A feeling crept over his heart; loneliness, and adrenaline pumped through his veins. He saw something on the other side of the room, a shimmer of light. He felt his body move, gliding to the other side. He felt strange, he looked down to find a body which was not his own. Dark cloth hanging on a thin, pale body. His head was forced up and looked at the light again. Apparently it came through a door, which had been opened slightly, letting a small beam of light through. Though the body in which he had been imprisoned moved closer to the door, it never went through. He listened to a sharp, high voice on the other side, which he knew all too well. The dark lord. A shiver ran down spine and he moved back. He knew he was dead, but still the memory scared him, and he wished to leave this dreadfull place. But the body had other plans and moved to another door. Soundlessly passing through the corridors of the house and moving downstairs. A loud crack came from behind him and he heard a soft shuffling.

'Mistress.' An elf greeted her with a low bow, his hooked nose scraping the floor. Draco recognized him as the head elf of Malfoy Manor's kitchen.

'Pobrey.' His mouth greeted, but his voice sounded different. It was the voice of Aral, he had figured to be trapped inside her body, since it was her memory. He turned slightly down and towards the elf. 'It is time for tea.' He whispered.

'Very well, my lady. Pobrey shall do as mistress demands.' Pobrey bowed again and stared at his feet. Draco was slightly shocked about how they treated her, like a queen. The queen of Malfoy Manor. A frightening thought.

'Good.' He said in a strangely cheery voice as he straightened up and moved for the head entrance. With a wave of her wand, hardly having moved it, the door opened and closed as she left the house. Like a queen leaving her castle.

The memory blurred slightly and vague, different things showed before his eyes. The voices returned as he kept walking.

'Don't!' A sharp voice snapped.

'I have to...' A soft voice argued.

'You can't! He can't be trusted.' The sharp one growled.

'Can't be trusted? He saved me.' The soft one retorted.

'He will hate you. Like we hate you!' The sharp one again snapped.

'No...' The weak retort was met with a cackling, dark laugh.

'Shut it! Both of you!' Draco recognized this to be Aral. He wondered if he was able to communicate with her.

'Yes, Draco, we can.' Aral told him. This surprised him.

'Do you hear my thoughts?' He asked after a moment.

Aral laughed. 'Sometimes. Bits and pieces. Not all of it, you don't have to worry.'

Draco's attention got pulled by the moment Aral suddenly apparated to another place and he looked around.

'What is this place?' He asked in his mind.

'A place where nightmares come to live.' She said softly, fear clearly present in her always steady voice.

They moved further to a muggle house with the number nineteen on it. They halted in front of the door. Draco could feel her heart beat starting to quicken. They entered the hall and immediately noted three people. Draco was curious about the third above them, his head tilted lightly, but ignored the third presence. The other two were talking about things. He could hear their voices and their conversation in detail. Most memories become blurred and details get lost, but this memory had been perfect. Every detail worked into the scene and displayed in front of him. His head perked up when apparently the man had said something.

'I just don't understand how that would help. Who would want anything from us?'

He moved around the corner and into the light. 'I do.'

Draco's curiosity grew the longer he watched the scene. The woman tried to defend her husband and herself and the man tried to protect her, but it didn't matter; Aral simply was too strong. They both watched Aral, but looked straight into Draco's eyes with fear. Draco felt strange and he felt scared for the two people. What had happened here? What made Aral dread this memory? They had a conversation and Draco listened to each word.

Apparently the woman knew who Aral was and knew something about her.

'What do you want?' The woman, Sara, demanded.

'Good question. Information.' Aral turned around and looked straight into her eyes. 'Because you've crossed paths with the same child who orphaned at age one just a few months before that horrible evening, haven't you?'

The woman swallowed and tears welled up in her eyes. Her husband, Andrew looked confused. 'What are you talking about? I don't understand, Sara.' He protectively put his arms around his wife.

An emotion flared up inside Draco, but he knew it must have come from Aral. This woman had known her as a baby before she was adopted by the Potter's? Curious.

'Tell me,' he took one slow step forward to the witch, 'what happened before.'

So the woman started telling her a story.

Draco didn't hear her voice though, he heard Aral's inside his head. 'This story is the story which changed my life, for ever.'

'The sadness of it is that it formed my future out of the past, which I had tried so desperately to find, and I now loath.' Her words were slow and pained.

'Don't leave me. Please.' He heard her voice as soft as a whisper, like a child, begging.

'Of course not. I won't ever.' Draco told her.

'Maybe you will after this.' Her voice was steady once more, deprived of all emotion, hard as rock and as cold as ice, but he knew she felt emotion, for he felt it flow through him as he shared her mind.

The scene escalated. He felt anger rising. A blackness took over and the anger was suffocating. He felt pure hate and utter loss.

'Give me a reason why I shouldn't make that child upstairs an orphan too.' The words came out like a hiss from a snake and Draco's heart skipped a beat.

No. She couldn't have said that. Not Aral. Not his Aral. The pure hate and anger. It was consuming her and he felt like drowning. The words echoed through his mind and he could hear Aral sob softly. Aral in the memory attacked the man and woman, ending up gripping the throath of the poor woman, Sara.

Angrily she asked about a file. Draco didn't follow the conversation exactly, he could only stare at the fingers around Sara's throath, he could only feel the undescribable anger and pain. Suddenly she glided toward a drawer and pulled it open. In the corner of his eye he could see the man and woman holding each other afraid of the witch and holding on to dear life, for they knew they wouldn't live for long any more.

Desperately he searched for a name on the file, every inch he scanned and he re-read it twice. But there was no name. A Jane Doe, he heard the woman say. Everything became more blurred as the anger rised. The dark room lit with flashing colours. He had never seen such a sight. A world only Aral could see, through her eyes, into another demension. He then saw the necklace. The necklace he had asked about, the strange object representing so much more than he could have imagined before. The windows flew open and the wind came howling in. Papers flew in the air and the curtains curled with the wind. The burning paper's flames at her feet blazed up and spread a dangerous light around the dark place. Draco could feel she started to tremble, anger overflowing and feeling lost. What was happening? A very small voice, far away, whispered something.

 _What happened to you?_

He could feel the pain built up inside her and it needed to get out. He inhaled deeply and let out an agonising scream. And fell to his knees, not able to stand anymore, no energy. And from the centre of her heart, the centre of all pain, loss, hatred and emotion came a flash of green light. Draco gasped and his heart skipped a beat. He watched as the husband and wife, still together holding each other, slumped down to the ground, motionless. Tears were dripping from their blank eyes, which were still open and showing glassy eyes staring into oblivion. The man's eyes were trained on his wife, but the woman's, Sara's, were trained on the ceilling. On her child. Draco's heart broke and he felt the same as Aral, shattered and broken.

The wind had stopped and everything was quiet. Terrible silence filled the air. Untill it got broken by the small creak of the staircase in the hall.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hey everyone!**

 **I'm glad I finally uploaded again, and I'm sorry that it took so long.**

 **I hope you liked this one. Please, review and tell me your thoughts. It helps me out a lot.**

 **Have a nice day!**

 **-J**


	23. Chapter 23: New Beginning

Black Stained

Chapter 23: New Beginning

When Charlie had finally woken up and had realized Aral had left, he immediately ran outside looking for the witch. Outside, however, had changed into a scene of chaos. Charlie pushed himself through the mob of wizards and witches, whom had gathered on the fields. He came to a halt when a finger pointed at him and his name got shouted in the air by some unknown person. It turned out to be Nicki and some other friends of his. The other people were making so much noise they had to move away from the group and went to the baby centre. Finally inside they could talk. Charlie turned around and looked at each of them. The small group of people turned out to be; him, Nicki, Levi, Sam and Ben - the elderly guy, whom had been present at the transfer.

'What the hell is going on out there?' Charlie asked them. 'It wasn't like that before.'

Sam stepped out and sighed. 'No, not before she had left the bloody hospital.'

Ben, too, sighed. 'Alina had told her to stay.' He rubbed his face with the palm of his good hand, the other still stinging a little from burn marks.

'Where is she?' Charlie asked calmly, he really needed to talk to her. He looked up at them when no one answered. 'Does anyone even know where she is?' He asked.

'To be honest, lad, no.' Ben told him frankly. 'Most people were just doing their work and the sick and injured were transfered to another wing to-... stay save...' He hesistantly spoke the words, but they all knew them to be true and Charlie nodded at him to reassure him and keep talking. 'But then...' He cut off.

Nicki resumed the story. 'No one really got near the hospital, unless in great need. The boss told everyone to resume their post and keep working, that the accident which had occured was nothing more like that; an accident. And that there was no need to keep going on about it. So everyone did as he said and kept working. Untill... Aral had been seen leaving the building.' Nicki bit her lip. 'Not that many people from the reserve were present at the time she... - lets just say - 'exploded', but news travels fast around here as we all know. Especially with those gossiping sisters in the hospital.' Charlie growled softly at the thought of those women. He detested them more than ever at the moment, which wasn't his style in demeanor opposite a woman. 'Everyone who wasn't working at the moment and not drooling in their beds came to the field to check it out. After a few hours even people who should have been working came out to talk about it.' She shook her head in disbelieve and a little bit of disgust. Charlie sighed again and rubbed his hands over his face, trying to shake the fog, which still clouded his eyes, for he had just been sleeping.

'And the press? They usually come in these type of situations to get some gossip, don't they?'

'They came.' Levi spoke up, leaning against the table he usually worked at. 'But the boss, told them nothing specific and no names.' Levi glanced at Charlie's face. Charlie was staring at a wall at the moment, deep in thought with a heavy frown. Though, he did not know why, Levi knew what he was worried about. 'Don't worry. Boss also told everyone not to speak about it and not to call names, certainly not tell the press her name.'

Charlie turned and nodded in thanks. 'Okay, thanks for the information, guys. I guess we'll have to get back and try to calm the situation at hand.'

'Yes, probably a good idea. Gossip can get people mad.' Ben shook his head disapproving. Before they left the building, Ben quickly took Charlie to the side and let the other's go outside first before he started talking.

'If you don't mind me asking... What exactly has you all worked up on Aral?' Ben asked him directly, looking him straight in the eye.

Charlie taken aback slightly simply shrugged and replied a bit nervous. 'It's just that I feel responsible for her. I was the one that talked her into coming here and leaving England.'

'Responsible, huh?' Ben replied, not really believing the given answer.

Charlie just looked back at him with a not understanding mask on his face. Ben realized that the boy really didn't know, but he himself didn't know if there was something between the boy and the new one. Was it really just the feeling of responsibility?

'What about it?' Charlie asked curiously, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ben immediately scratched the idea. It must be the gossip getting to his head, letting his mind make up ridiculous ideas. Aral was after all a couple of years younger than the boy and one of his younger brother's best friend.

'Nothing. Never mind.' They left the building. Charlie curiously gazed at the back of the older man, trying to figure out what meaning there was behind the strange question. Nothing came to mind, though, and he let it go.

* * *

Aral went to take her jacket and leave with Draco, when she noticed the mob of people on the fields. She hadn't seen such a gathering for a long time and it made her a little uncomfortable, realizing it was probably because of her. Draco came to stand beside her like he had done sometimes before and gazed out of the window.

'I presume the route to the apparation is directly through that mass of people?' He sighed.

'Unfortunately for us, yes.' She muttered.

'Is their no way around?' He asked, but they both knew the answer.

She shrugged. 'If you're willing to climb the steep mountain behind us, yes. Though, I doubt that highly.' Sarcasm returned to her voice.

He chuckled, something she rarely had the privilege of to hear. Looking at the people gathered on the field Draco got an idea.

'You know what, why not give them what they want. Something to remember.' Aral looked at him questioningly, one brow raised. He looked back at her, an amused smirk playing around his lips. 'They have gathered all for you, would be a shame if they didn't get to see you.'

He turned around and collected his coat. Pulling Aral with him he made for the door. 'Oh, no. Please, Draco, no!'

He turned back. 'What? Are you just going to sit here and let gossip form stories about your life? Lies filling in the blanks you choose not to fill?' She wanted to retort, but she could find no words for a valuable remark, ending up only glaring at his cunning silver eyes. But slowly she couldn't hold in the smirk forming on her lips and Draco knew he got her. He bowed forward slightly and offered his hand, all the while locking his eyes with hers and smirking.

'Ma'am, may I have the privilege of escorting you outside?'

She rolled her eyes at his words, but excepted his offered hand. He opened the door, but before they walked out he halted and turned to look at her again, but now with a serious face. 'Don't listen to them, don't let anything or anyone get to you. You may have made yourself believe so, but you are absolutely not weak.' He pinched her hand in a reassuring way and let her outside.

The first few moments went unnoticed. Only when they came nearer to the hospital, people started to notice the two. But with every stride, with Draco at her side she felt stronger. The mob went quiet, save for some whispering. They moved straight through the crowd, which parted automatically as they neared. After a moment Draco let her go. Feeling and knowing that she had to do this on her own, to stand up to her fears and doubts, on her own. Instead of ignoring all the stares like she first had intended to do, she answered each stare with her own. She pierced every pair of eyes with her own and gazed back at them, with a strong demeanor. Her hair flowed behind her, waving in the wind. Each pair of eyes she met looked away and it made her feel strong again. Draco was right, she needed this. It wasn't like something big was happening at the moment, but in this little scene so much meaning occured as subtitles. She had proven not only to those people gossiping about her, but also to herself, that she, indeed, was strong and that she could still control - at least a part of- herself and the power within her small frame.

With Draco by her side she strided straight through the mob, nearly reaching the end. But before she made it out of the sea of watching eyes, her eyes locked with another pair she was able to recognize immediately. Charlie's dark grey eyes, reflecting the sunlight, shimmered when he looked at her and he blinked. Once. Twice. Then, she lost him in the sea with the rest of the staring eyes and her body moved forward. The gravel under her feet crunched and a second pair of boot-on-gravel sounds joined her on the path as Draco stepped in next to her. She stared straight ahead, for once truly enjoying being watched after and enjoying the playfull, soft carress of the wind, playing with her hair. She enjoyed the sun, beaming and warming her skin. For a moment she wished the walk would never end. Everything left her for a moment, as if she left the earth to watch from a whole new place. She could only feel the nice tingle of sunlight on her skin and the feeling of peace. But she got pulled back to the ground by a hand reaching out for hers and softly squeezing it. Draco's chesture was kind and unknown for most of the world. Aral felt flattered to be one of the few, maybe the only one to receive such kindness from a man deamed too harsh for such behaviour. Sofly she squeezed his hand too. From the corner of her eyes she could see a smile tugging on his lips. His features were... rested. Not anxious or the usual emotionless harshness he showed most of the world. No, his face now wore something of peace. Like he shared in her moment of joy. When they almost reached their destination she turned toward him. He looked up at her and let her hand go. They exchanged little smiles and just looked at each other, as if they needed to take in each others faces while they were in this moment. Because it felt good. She caught herself staring at his eyes, at the small crinkles of amusement in the corners; the small tug on the left side of his lips, forming a smirk, a happy one; and his hair, which had been blown out of fashion and had given one lock the oppertunity to slightly curl down on his forehead. Slowly her smile faded as she started to understand why she was so desperately taking in his features. Because she knew that this moment was rare, so rare, that her instincts drove her to remember everything and each detail. This memory had to be taken in completely. Because she needed to remember the time Draco had once been happy. His smile faded, too. He looked down at his hands, and Aral knew he was thinking the same, had done the same; taken in her features of the one happy moment.

Slowly he reached in his pocket, but not yet pulled it out. He looked up again. All traces of peace or rest gone, replaced with his usual anxious expression. He cleared his throat before saying, 'Aral. I don't want to push you into doing something you don't want to, but...' His eyes diverted from hers and stared ahead. He looked back again, with an emotion locked in his eyes. Sorrow, Aral identified in his silver eyes. She held her breath as she waited for his words.

'You must find a way. Not to just lock it away.' He said urgently. And she understood what he was saying. 'You must. Not just for your own sake, but everyone elses too.' He shook his head. 'I've done some research.' He lowered his voice. 'In the Malfoy library, as you might now, there are books which would give madam Pince a heart atack. And stories my father got nightmares from. And that's why I urge you to try, not to conceal it, but to control. Work with it.' Those last three words sounded strange, so bizarre, that she didn't even register them after a moment of contemplating silence.

'Work-' Aral cleared her throat. 'Work with it?' Her disbelieving eyes looked up at him. He took her hand and covered it with his other, placing a heavy object in it.

'Work with it.' He accentuated each word. She didn't say a word, not knowing what to answer. Instead she looked down to the object in her hand. Dread immediately filling her. She still didn't want it. Not ever wanting it near her again. Quickly she took his withdrawing hand and placed the heavy object back. When he was about to object she shushed him and closed his hand around it.

'I gave it to you for a reason. I don't want it, nor need it.' She pointedly looked him in the eye. He only nodded in response. He placed it back in his pocket and took a step back, toward the apparation spot with the port key, waiting for him. She gave him a last smile and wave as goodbye and watched as he disappeared, of to his home and the burden of Malfoy Manor waiting for him to take on again. She then thought about how both of them had their burdens to carry as left overs from the war. Shadows which would always follow them, doesn't matter how much they would walk in the sun. She turned around and walked back.


	24. Chapter 24: Work With It

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 24: Work With It_

Her boss had been staring her down for an unnerving long time. But for her credit she did not look away, or hide behind her chair. She looked back and waited.

She had been called to the office regarding plans about how to rebuild and restructure the reserve. As the damage had been grave. She had volunteered for all the groups that were assigned to clear and rebuild the place. Every other workers had been informed of their position and task. Aral wondered if he wanted to tell her personally, or if this was the moment he was going to sack her.

'As the gathering yesterday on the premisis might have told you, some of your colleagues were quite shaken by the incident.'

'More like all of them.' She muttered. He gave her a look telling her he hadn't finished yet talking, so she shut up and let him tell his story.

'And as you might have guessed some had taken to the press to share their concerns. Your dear friend, mister Weasley, however convinced me to take precautions and made sure none of these events have been described in the daily prophet or any other paper as anything more than a dangerous encounter with a dragon on the Romanian privet dragon reserve.'

'Thank you, sir.' She replied sincerely. He gave her a faint smile and said, 'I am aware of your past and understand your situation and need for privacy.'

She nodded at him, thankful for him considering her privacy. They fell quiet for a moment and Aral tore her eyes away from his stare to casually look round his office. Her eyes fell on a file, a couple sheets of papers stuck out for her to read. She read 'task assignement' and immediately wondered what kind of task she had been ordered to do. Probably the most dirty job there was, since her punishment was yet to come, but she did not mind. She was after all guilty. When her boss did not say anything more she decided to ask him about the matter.

'Sir, might I ask what task I have been assigned? As you probably have noticed I volunteered for all the jobs available.'

'Ah.' He merely said, folding his hands and leaning on the desk with shoulders hunching forward. He looked up at her and again gave a small smile, this one was of a apologetic nature. She started wondering...

'I must confess, miss Potter, I have not assigned you any task.'

'But why not, sir? I could help. I don't mind whatever it is I have to do. You will need all the help there is.'

'It is no matter of my need for help, but a matter of authority.' He sighed. 'You are responsible for the incident and thereby responsible for the damage done to the reserve.' Aral had prepared for this talk, had prepared for the damaging words. 'I have not yet punished you because I do not wish to punish you. But others will see that I have not yet fired you or have punished you in any way. They will think I have slackened my authority on you and will protest to such behaviour. I can't risk any more uproar in this situation.'

Aral's mind was trying to understand his way of thinking. And she understood. By letting her help, even doing a task that no one else would want to do, he was giving her a purpose, a motive. By helping she would be needed on the reserve. If he didn't let her she would have to do her former job, tending to the babies. She would not be fital in cleaning the mess she made.

'But won't that anger my co-workers? They will have to clean up the mess I made.'

He shook his head. 'I have worked here longer than you have, I know their ways of thinking. Now, please, let us not discuss this matter any further. You must return to the little dragons. I heard there is even one that seems to have bonded to you.'

He tried changing the subject, but Aral wasn't done talking about it. She wanted, needed, to help. But she let it go, would try later when he was in a better mood. She gave him a weak smile and nodded.

'It seems to be there is and I enjoy it a great deal.'

'Than I won't hold you any longer. I thank you for your apology and shall extend it to the others.'

She nodded again and shook hands with him. Than she left to walk back to her work.

Instead of a crowd there was no one to be seen at the field. And she was glad of it. She had had enough of prying eyes. The big dome-like building was a welcoming sight. She entered swiftly and walked straight over to the air chamber. Though it was not yet time to tend to them, she would love to see Gemi again. The little dragon, as usually, was hidden somewhere in the rocks. But when she noticed her favorite care-taker approach she came out of her hiding place and greeted her friend. Aral played with her for a while. Some others joined in their games. It was time for some medical check-ups so Aral brought the dragons one by one to the room in the middle of the building so Nicki could inspect them.

While Aral observed Nicki working with the dragons, she started thinking about what her boss had told her about 'authority'. She didn't agree with his way of thinking. Yes, by not tasking her with any of this he didn't give her any authority or made her a necessity, but still... She was ashamed of the damage she had done and would have liked to clean it all up on her own. She was starring at the wall when Nicki cleared her throath and shifted her attention to the work table at which Nicki was working.

'Still day dreaming about it all?' Nicki asked her.

'About what exactly?' Aral asked back. There were quite a few things she could have been thinking about. Not only the incident, but also the mob gathering yesterday, her talk with the boss, Charlie... - she shook her head about her last thought. Why exactly would she be day dreaming about him? She after all a lot of other things on her mind.

'Well the whole situation... the boss musn't have been very pleasant.' She gave a tentative smile.

Aral thought about it and responded with, 'Actually, he wasn't harsh or angry at all. Not that he showed to me, though. He was... kind. Said that he didn't wish to fire me or punish me in any way. He even made sure the press didn't release too much information. I am curious though why he treats me like this. I do not deserve this kind of treatment at all.' She sighed.

Nicki frowned at that too. 'Not mad? Really? He isn't the type of person to forgive easily.'

They were quiet for some time, then Aral broke her train of thought and cleared her throath.

'Can I take the little one back again?' Looking down at the dragon again.

'Yes! He is a bit sleepish but healthy!' Nicki gave it a last stroke across its back and gave him to me. 'Was he the last one for today?' She asked eagerly, already looking at her watch.

'Yes...' Aral said looking at the dragon care taker. She seemed to be in a hurry for something. Aral wondered what. 'Is there somewhere you need to be?'

Nicki looked up, a bit startled at her question. She sighed, she seemed nervous. 'Yes, actually.'

It was a wild guess, but Aral was almost 100 percent certain that it was the reason. 'He asked you out on a date, didn't he?' She asked Nicki teasingly.

When Nicki didn't answer, but looked down at her hands Aral couldn't contain herself. 'He did! Oh, that's great!'

Nicki let out a shaky breath. 'I am so nervous.'

Aral decided to give her the same 'You-work-with-dragons-don't-be-so-afraid-of-someone-on-a-date' speech. Nicki smiled at that.

'Just go in there and go for it. He really likes you.'

'Thanks, Aral. You're such a great friend.' They both stood up to bring back the dragon and close the building for the rest of the evening. Once outside they said goodbye and both left for a different direction.

* * *

Instead of going straight to bed, Aral decided to first drop by at Charlie's. To see if he was already done with work and in need of some company, like herself. She had become used to being alone for a long time, but now with everything going on... She needed a good friend. And Charlie Weasley seemed the best idea. The only idea, sadly enough. She had hoped that her being here would get her more friends and connections back into the world. It wasn't going as smooth as she had thought though. After a walk across the reserve to the other cabins she found his and knocked on the door.

Less than three seconds later the door opened. She was not greeted with the face of her Weasley friend. Instead of the red-head she looked at a blonde pretty woman, with big brown eyes and thick lips. Her beauty was striking and - though Aral didn't want to admit it... - Annoying.

'What do you want?' The voice of the woman drawled. Aral shook her head to clear her now clouded thoughts.

'Oh, uhm, is Charlie in here? I thought this was his cabin. But...-' The girl didn't let her finish.

'Yes. He is here. But he isn't available right now.'

Different theories and conclusions jumped up in her mind, such as 'they were _busy_ ' and 'girlfriend'.

'Oh. I am terribly sorry. I will come back later...' Aral awkwardly turned around and started walking back to the road. But then she heard a door got slammed shut and someone started to call out to her.

'Aral! Wait!'

Aral stopped walking, but she didn't want to talk to Charlie anymore actually. She had wanted someone to comfort her and accompany her, while she was in this shitty situation. But with a girlfriend on the side, Aral wasn't in the mood. At that moment she started to wonder why exactly she was thinking about Charlie as privet property. He wasn't hers.

Charlie slowly jogged up to her and stopped in front of her.

'Hey.' He greeted her.

'Hi.' She greeted him back.

When neither of them started talking she noticed he was wearing sweat pants and a simple shirt, which seemed to be two sized too small, because his muscles were clearly shown through the light material. Not that she minded at all, because he had a very muscled body. Probably left from his quidditch years and his continuing work with dragons, she thought.

'So... How was your conversation with the boss?' He pulled her attention back to him.

'It was alright. I haven't been sacked if you're wondering about that.'

'Okay. Good.' He nodded awkwardly. She started contemplating if she should ask him about that woman in his cabin... She decided against it. It wasn't any of her bussiness. She just wanted to keep walking untill she reached the lake and drown in shame.

'I saw you were busy. So I am going back to my cabin now.' She said as she tried to move past him. He held out his arm though to block her path.

'No, I wasn't busy. Britney was just visiting.' He pointing back at his place with his thumb.

'It's okay, you're busy. It wasn't urgent or anyhting.' She pushed past his arm. Shivering from his arm touching hers. She wanted to be alone now.

'No! If you want you can come to my place.' He tried to call her back.

She smiled back at him, but replied with a simple, 'thanks, but no. I'm tired, Charlie. I just want to sleep now.'

With those words spoken she turned round again and stalked back to her own place. Not bothering to look back. She decided that she would leave Charlie alone for a while, he had a life on his own after all and she needed to sort things out. She felt cold again and wrapped her arms around herself.

She would have to spent the evening alone now. She wished the nightmares wouldn't hunt her that night...


	25. Chapter 25: Redemption

**Black Stained**

 _Chapter 25: Redemption_

'Hold up, let me get this right,' A woman interupted the boss' speech as he spoke of his plans, 'you wanna sent a small group into that big ass mountain right there to clear up the mess someone else made?'

'Yes, miss Denver. ' The man responded impatiently. 'And if you would let me continue it will all make sense as to why I am sending a small group into that 'big ass mountain' as you call it.'

She heard the 'shut up and listen' tone behind his words and did exactly so.

'With the work we have to continue above ground and elsewhere than that mountain there are a lot of people needed, we can't affort to send in more. And there are no reinvorcements to call, I already checked. Nonetheless, I know this is a dangerous mission and the people who will carry it out will also require a tremendous ammount of skill, which is why I am asking you all.' He said as he looked each of the man and woman in the eyes standing in front of him.

'And luck if we want to survive.' Muttered the same woman under her breath, her boss didn't hear.

'Yes, it is dangerous. Yes, you are with few. But we can't forsake those dragons living in that mountain. It was, and still is our job to look out for each and every dragon living on this reserve.'

A few muttered some words of agreement and nodded.

'So, I ask you now. Who will help carry out this mission?' The boss intently looked around the group.

A few silent, contemplative minutes passed until a woman stepped forward. Her small frame and long blonde hair were not able to hide the fierceness which flowed from her and her piercing eyes. Determined she said 'I will'.

Soon others followed, admiring her courage. A certain red head did too, knowing said woman very well too.

Almost everyone joined and so there now stood a team of nine persons in front of the boss, willing to risk their lives for the dragons in danger of the mountains might.

'I thank you for your courage and good heart. Now prepare for leave and prepare for the worst.' With those words the boss dismissed them and the few others who hadn't joined. But not every person left the tent. Charlie stepped towards the boss and asked him the question he had wanted to ask ever since he had stepped into the newly formed team.

'Sir, with all do respect, isn't nine hardly enough of a team for a rescue mission in the mountains?'

'I understand, mr. Weasley, your concerns. But I do, however, believe in the power of this team. And besides I still hope a person is willing to join this mission.'

'Than who sir? If I may ask. Everyone else you invited just now who haven't joined don't seem to be joining any time later.'

'The person of whom I speak wasn't here, but also won't concern you. As long as you believe in your team you can do anything. Now go, don't waste anymore time talking to this old man while you should be making preperations.'

Charlie simply nodded and left the tent, puzzled by the mans answer. Of whom had he spoken? What person did he hope would soon join them, on a mission that was going to be testing all of their will and strength?

* * *

After spending over two hours in her cabin being miserable and allone, Aral decided it was time to go out again, see where she could perhaps help out. Outside she walked around, worked up the courage to ask some people if they wanted some help, and finally when she dared to ask someone, got rejected and wandered around more. No one really seemed to be wanting her help, she couldn't blame them. Finally she decided to go spend her free time where she also spent her time working: at the baby center. In the buidling she bumped into Nicki, who told her some suprising news.

'They've assembled a small team to break through the blocked mountain paths and rescue any injured dragon living there.'

'Just a small team? Of how many people to be exact? Such a mission sound like a big team kind of thing.' Aral frowned.

'Yeah, weird isn't it. I heard it was about nine people. But I guess the boss knows what he's doing.' Nicki responded while clearing some stuff from her desk. She gave Aral a glance from the corner of her eyes, should she tell her that Charlie is also part of this team? Aral picked up on her gaze and crossed her arms.

'Nicki, just spit it out. I know there is something you're not telling me.'

'Charlie is also in that team.' Nicki finally said.

This didn't surprise Aral at all, being courageous was a Weasley-family trait. Still, this concerned her.

'Maybe if I asked the boss kindly he will let me go too.' She contemplated. Nicki turned round to face her friend.

'Why would you want that? It is very dangerous there!'

'So? I made this mess remember. Why should anyone else face the dangers I created?' She shot back.

Nicki sighed, they both knew it was true. Aral picked up her jacket.

'I'm gonna go. Thanks for telling me, Nicki.' She said goodbye with a small smile and left.

'Oh, boy. I feel trouble.' Nicki said to herself.

* * *

When she left the building Aral had been walking in a steady pace, when she neared the mountain however and saw the team already leaving she accelerated into a full sprint. 'Wait!' She called out.

Charlie, who instantly recognized her voice, spun around to look for her. When she finally reached him she came to a halt.

'Let me come with you.' She panted, out of breath because of the running.

Before Charlie could say anything another man from the group turned to her and said: 'You're not qualified, girl.'

She ignored him however and urged Charlie to bring her. 'I made this mess, I am capable of taking care of myself. And sure it is dangerous but I made it so, so let me help. I've been sitting on my arse for too long now.' Charlie didn't know what to say, but luckily for him someone responded for him.

'Eric, if she wants to help out let her. She clearly knows the dangers and what I have heard is very well capable of holding her own. So why not?'

Aral looked at the small woman who came to her defence, giving her a smile of appreaciation.

'Aren't we supposed to ask the boss about this?' Another called.

'He just left for ministry bussiness which leaves me in charge and I say she can come with.' The woman again spoke up.

'Okay, I love standing in the sun and making small talk and all but shouldn't we go?' A woman commented. Aral just followed her as she started to the mountain. The women seemed to not have any difficulties with her joining last minute, the men were reluctant though. Charlie seemed to completely freeze, which was very unlike him. But soon he followed into step beside her and grabbed her arm.

'Aral are you sure you want to do this? It is dangerous, even more dangerous than you might think...'

'Charlie you always try to keep me save, and I apreaciate your concern, but I don't need you mothering all over me with every decision I make.' In her mind it had sounded way less harsh and unfeeling. She felt like a jerk right then, but it gave the effect she had wanted. Charlie backed off a little, not so much that they were sepperated. She just didn't want him to always try and stop her. And she didn't know what she wanted from him. He had helped her and all, but right now? What did she want? Did she still need to grow, yes obviously, but she didn't need Charlie for that anymore so why did he keep going after her? She guessed he was just trying to be a good friend to her... She shook of the thoughts. Her concentration was needed elsewhere.

'So first thing: the fallen debris and rocks from the earthquake need to be removed from the entrance. Others have already started to clear some space, but there are still big rocks to be removed. And don't think levitating these is an easy feat! This mountain is special as some of you might now, with great powers, which makes it more difficult to clear. Lets start over here. Devide into two teams of three and one of four for the biggest rocks, that way we can handle this as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Go.' The small woman, who apparently was also the leader of this group called. Aral immediately looked at Charlie to team up with, unfortunately for her the Eric guy from before was also included in her group of four, with another man. Great, she could almost taste the testosterone in the air around her.

'Let us handle this, Potter.' Eric sneered. Aral passively raised her eyebrows. 'Okay, show me how you will handle this.' She challenged him with a shrug. He just looked down on her like she was an insect. She wanted to punch his arrogant face so hard... He scoffed and motioned to Charlie and the other guy - apparently his name was Dean. Charlie looked between her and Eric and grumbled something. But came to Eric's side anyway to help clear out the debris. Clearly her words from before had stung him harder than she had wanted to. She bit her lip, but chose to ignore it. With the three of them it wouldn't seem like lifting some of the rocks would be a problem at all. It did however turn out to be as difficult as the woman had said. Once their magic hit the stone Aral straightened her back, the magic from the stone seemed to shoot ligthning right at her. It wasn't painfull or anything, but the heavy power of the mountain seemed to way down on her shoulders, fighting back. Straining and groaning the three man tried their best but hardly succeeded into lifiting the rocks. Just a couple of small once were levitated into the air and removed from their place. Aral, again feeling useless, walked up to them and concentrated. She felt Eric glaring daggers at her, so she turned round and looked him straight in the eyes. 'You may not like me, but there are dragons in those mountains that need both of our help. And by irritating each other we only delay our work and that kind of behaviour is childish so I am going to help you if you like it or not.' With that she turned back, relieved to not hear a word from Eric.

She stretched her arms to her sides and started concentrating on the magic not only within herself but in the rocks also. She did not strain her power to make it yield to hers but rather tried to make it work with her. Magic isn't supposed to be conquered, but worked with. At least that is what she believed before her time as a dark witch.

Slowly the rocks, with the help of the others, started to lift and finally took a place not in the way of the entrance. Happy with their accomplishment she turned to her group and smiled. Charlie smiled back, so did Dean. Eric ignored her however, only nodding at the others. Alright, you ass. They turned to see if the others might need some help. And seeing that they did they split up and helped them. Soon the whole entrance was cleared and they readied themselves to leave.

'Okay guys, once we go in there we have to stay alert at all times. That mountain isn't just a mountain like any other, there are many dangers we have to face so be careful and watch each others backs.' The woman spoke.

'Yeah, as long as I don't have to constantly babysit that Potter girl.' Eric sneered at some friend of his. He didn't know, but Aral heard him speak. She knew it was futile to start a fight over it, however, and stayed quiet.

'Lets move out.'

In a triangle form they entered the mountain and darkness immediately overtook. Some waved their wands and some used 'lumos' to conjure light. Aral did nothing, the place felt strange to her, draining. They walked on and soon reached an intersection. They started arguing about wether or not they should split up into two groups and each take another path.

'If we want to do this as fast as possible we should split up.'

'Yes, but fast doesn't mean save.'

Charlie was the only one who turned to their leader to make the decision. She chose it would be best to stay together for now, until they had cleared the mountain of most of their dangers. 'We head to the left, that side is closer to the biggest colony of dragons living here.'

So they continued on, and on, and on. The path didn't seem to end and when it did there was always an intersection, making them choose. They switched positions every so often. Aral now got to walk beside the leader of the group.

'We haven't been introduced yet. My name is Cora.' Said the woman, who at the same time extended her hand.

'Aral.' She shook her hand.

'You haven't done this before have you?' Cora asked her.

'Well... I have done some kind of rescuing work in dangerous places.' Breaking out death eaters from Azkaban, though she did not like to think about that.

'Stay alert and have each others backs, than we will make it.'

'I have a question: if people have been taking care of the dragons within these tunnels, how come it is so hard for us to find the way?'

'There was a spell placed on the entrance. It would, upon entering, transport you to dragons. So you wouldn't have to walk through these tunnels, which had been dug by goblins in medieval times.' She glanced around and back at Aral again. 'But when the earthquake hit the entrance, something changed. We're not sure what, but the spell has been broken.'

'How could an earthquake break a spell? Those are two very different matters.'

Cora shrugged, not knowing the answer. 'I don't know, what I do know however is that the boss was hiding something. I just can't figure out what...'

Upon realizing what she had just confessed to Aral she quickly looked over her shoulder to check if anyone else had heard her, and back at Aral again. 'Please, don't say anything to the others about this. We can't have doubt and fear in the team on such a mission.' Aral nodded, understanding.

Everyone started to pant and breath heavily and their legs seemed too heavy to lift. They had been hiking through the tunnels for some hours now. Cora called the team to rest. 'Lets rest here. Thirty minutes, tops. Then we continue.'

'You would think we would have reached the dragons by now already.' A man commented. 'We at least must be near them, though I can't see, feel or hear any sign of them.'

'Maybe they moved to another place where they felt safer.' Another thought.

'There are no other caves able to home such a large group of them.' Charlie said.

'Then maybe not all of them were able to move.' AKA: they were dead. Aral knew that comment was meant for her. Still she chose to ignore it. She looked at Cora instead who, with her back to the group, looked at something in her hand. She walked up to her and saw it was a compass.

'Does it show where we need to go?' She asked curiously. Cora hastily looked up and pulled Aral to the side. 'I don't know why I am trusting you with this, maybe it is because I already told you something the rest can't hear about, but...'

She seemed to contemplate wether or not telling Aral would be smart. 'Tell me.' Aral said. 'At least one other person should share your concerns.'

'It's the compass.' Cora held it up for her to see. 'It is, as you asked, supposed to show us the way to the dragons. But it has been acting strange ever since we entered the mountain.' Aral looked at it, saw the clock-hand move from one to the other position, not able to choose. 'What kind of magic is placed on it?'

'I suppose some ancient dragon trace, the runes on the sides indicate that it is very old. Maybe it just broke. It is old after all.' Cora offered, sighing.

But Aral didn't think so, she lightly touched the glass with her finger and for a few seconds her eyes closed. 'No, not broken.'

Cora frowned. 'Can you feel what is wrong with it?' She gave the compass to Aral.

'It isn't that easy, but I will try.' She let it rest on the palms of her hands and concentrated in the dark, the only nearby light coming from Cora's wand. It was strange... Her head felt like it got tucked to every direction. She realized it was following the clock-hand.

'It seems to be confused as to where the dragons are.' She said. 'But how can that be?'

Charlie noticed the two women standing to the side and walked over to them. 'What are you guys doing?' When he saw the compass in Aral's hands he immediately placed a hand on her shoulder. 'Aral.' He whispered.

'What are you doing?' Cora asked him. Charlie shook Aral a bit, which made her open her eyes. 'What?' Aral hissed, taking out of her concentration.

'I was just making sure, Aral.' Charlie explained. Her green eyes softened at his words. He was glad they weren't gold or black. But what was she doing? He again looked at the compass she was holding.

'What is that?' He pointed at the object in Aral's hands. 'Nothing that concerns you.' Cora countered and turned her back on him. 'You should be resting, in ten minutes we're leaving.' Reluctantly he backed off and sat down again on the hard stone.

Cora turned back to Aral again and asked her if she found out what was wrong with it.

'There is nothing wrong with the compass itself, or the spell. But something outside of it is blocking the magical emmission coming from the dragons. That way it can't point out where they are.' Aral explained.

Cora's eyes widened. 'Than there are other dark powers at work here.'

'Yeah, where did the boss get this compass from anyway? It isn't light magic, it's very dark.' Cora didn't know the answer to that question and just shook her head.

'But now we are without guidence. That's a huge problem.' Cora sighed. Before she could say anyhting else someone jumped up.

'Hey, I recognize this. There's paint on these walls. I remember from the last time I came down here. This streak leads to the dragons.'

'Seems like we found a solution to the problem.' Aral grinned. Cora nodded, 'Than we follow that trail.'

After some time of walking and following the paint someone mentioned how the road went downwards. 'Aren't we supposed to go upwards?'

'But I'm sure I saw the same thing last time I was here.' The guy muttered. 'Wait I think I see something over there, it looks like a cave.'

They moved to the opening at the end of the tunnel and pointed their wands to light it up. 'This isn't big enough to be housing any dragons...'

'But a cave nonetheless, we should investigate.' Another countered. They walked into the strange cave. Aral noticed how the floor had strange cracks in it and the walls seemed hollowed out. She walked up to one side of the cave and studied it closely. Charlie walked up next to her and shone some light on the rocks. He noticed that she hadn't summoned any light.

'Maybe it's a smart idea to conjure some light.' He said.

'Do you remember how Tonks was able to turn herself in almost every animal?' Aral asked him, thinking of the joyfull pink haired woman.

'Yes...'

'Look at my eyes, Charlie. Tell me what kind of shape they are.' He looked at them intently and started to notice how they were rounder, but the pupil like a sharp line. 'Nightvision.' He simply stated. She nodded. 'It's been a tric of mine to sneak out of bed in Hogwarts ever since first year. I soon found I was able to see even in the darkest hours.' Charlie, again, was surprised and amazed.

'These aren't just rocks. They look like someone tried to smoothen the stone.' She said.

'And the floor has these strange markings too.' Charlie thought with her.

'This isn't a normal cave.' Than what is it? She wanted to ask.

Before she could think of an answer Cora jumped out of a pathway she had found and with eyes as big as Dobby's she screamed. 'IT'S A TRAP! SCATTER!'

As soon as those words were spoken the rocks seemed to move and the ground shook. Those strange lines in the ground fell away and huge gaps apeared in the ground. Charlie looked at something above her and tried to grab Aral's arm, but missed. She got pulled away by someone else, who pulled her into a pathway which she hadn't seen before. In just seconds did chaos break loose and seperated the group. Aral sprinted through the tunnel, trying to get away from the falling rocks. After only some minutes of falling did she fall down. She felt something grab her buy her shirt and quickly she spun round to fight whatever it was.

'Ow, wait! It's me! Potter stop.' Her eyes met Eric's. Her fist were still clenched and ready to punch him. She found that, despite him being on the good side, she wanted to punch him in the face. 'What the hell happened over there?' She questioned him.

'How should I know, Potter?' She pushed away his hand from her shoulder and stood up, noticing she had damaged her knees with the fall.

'What did you notice?' He asked her more calmly.

'I saw strange lines in the ground and noticed how the rocks weren't... normal. Like they had been smoothened out or something. To look like a cave. And then of course Cora yelled that it was a trap and we ran.'

'Just before all the chaos I thought I saw something move. I don't know what it was.' Eric told her.

'So how are we going to find the others?' Aral asked him. 'I mean we have to find them.' Eric stayed quiet, sending a clear message that he didn't know how.

'I don't even know how we were going to find the dragons anyway.' Eric, defeated, sat down on the dusty ground.

Aral hesitated, but then decided: why the hell not. 'There was a compass, Cora had it. It was supposed to show us the way. But...' Aral felt quiet.

Eric looked up and frowned. 'But what?'

'As soon as we entered this mountain it stopped working. Something was distracting the clock-hand.' She explained.

'And you know this how?' He questioned. She sat back down beside him, squinting at the pain in her left leg.

'She asked me to look at it, she thought it was broken.'

'She asked you?' Eric scoffed.

'Yes, you asshole, me. I'm not an useless piece if shite as some might believe, you know.'

He stayed quiet after her comment. After a quiet minute he spoke up again. 'The guy who said the paint would lead to the dragons had no idea what he was doing.'

'I guess so.' Aral quietly agreed. She looked from the left to the right and sighed. 'We should make a plan.'

'What can we possibly do? We're stuck in a mountain, seperated from the others, with nothing to tell us where the dragons are and with dangerous creatures or whatever at every corner. Yeah, we're totally gonna survive this. We should have never signed up for this.'

'Are you really this negative about your own skills?' Aral questioned. 'And just FYI we do have a something to tell us where we should go.'

Eric turned to look at her and frowned. 'What?'

'We have me.' She said as she smiled at him mischievously.


End file.
